Under Contract
by I Need a Thesaurus
Summary: AU. In order to provide for himself and his sister after their parent's death, Minato Arisato joins the Velvet Room, an organization of gun-for-hire headed by a strange man named Igor. His new assignment involving the Kirijo Group seems a little bit more complicated than what was stated in his contract.
1. Avril

"You call these cheap seats a 'Luxury Coach'?" said a disgruntled man with sangria colored hair wearing a white Paul Frederick cotton and linen twill suit, midnight blue gingham dress shirt a tacky orange tie designed with medallions, a Bremont Wright Flyer watch and holding a glass of Georges Duboeuf "Flower Label" Moulin-à-Vent on his right hand while staring at the golden rings on his right hand.

In front of him was a skinny pale man in his early fifties wearing a slightly oversized dark blue suit. He had a longish face almost resembling an eggplant and his hair was slicked back though it did not suit his features, he seemed to be nervous and he kept looking around as though the wind were to attack him at any moment. His name was Isamu.

But right now the wind was far from his concerns as his charge seemed to be dissatisfied with their travel conditions. "Sir, you have to understand" the pale man despite his appearance had a very deep voice, it was almost soothing like that of a disk jockey in a late night radio show, "Your father told us to lay low while they're investigating you"

"He said to lay low" the purple haired man then threw the contents of his wine glass at the pale man "NOT TREAT ME LIKE SOME LOW LIFE PEASANT!"

At once the poor man bowed "I apologize Masakado-sama, but please understand!"

Masakado was having none of it but before he could punish his handler even further the door to their coach opened.

The first thing that Isamu noticed was the white walking stick and the burgundy boots, his eyes averted up slowly, the man . . . the young lad was not much taller than him. The boy had unusually coloured hair (well kids these days seem to like doing that) and wore thick sunglasses. He was wearing worn out jeans and a faded out blue cardigan while pulling a peach coloured suitcase.

Silence passed at the two occupants stared at their new guest; it was not until the blind boy spoke. "Umm . . . this is seat number four right?"

Masakado stood up seemingly about to protest until Isamu stopped him "Yes, this is cart four" the pale man stood up and took the pink luggage bug "I'll be helping you with this"

The young boy smiled "Thank you sir" he had a very soft a polite tone it was almost cheerful.

"I thought this cart was reserved for us!" Masakado growled.

"Sir, I do not remember saying that," Isamu said after putting the pink bag in the storage "I just said that there are a few people riding this train so there might not be many passengers in the VIP area"

"YOU CALL THIS A VIP AREA?" Masakado pointed at the blind boy who now took the seat in front of him "EVEN A PEASANT LIKE HIM CAN AFFORD THIS TRASH"

Isamu tried to shush his charge "Sir please, he's blind not deaf"

"Oh please" Masakado crossed his arms "They're all the same derelicts in the end"

"Please excuse him" the elderly man apologized to the young man "He's just been having a rough week"

This time Masakado lowered his voice "If you won't let that rat out of here then might as well kill him"

"I don't think he'd recognize your face as he can't even see you in the first place," the butler said in an equally hushed tone "So you better behave throughout this trip"

"THIS IS RIDICULOUS!" the white-suited man slammed the coffee table in frustration "I'm going out for a smoke," he said opening the doors.

"But sir . . ." but it was too late the door was slammed against his face. This made the pale man sigh, he was clearly too loyal to the Ito family that he was able to endure the bratty heir. "I'm too old for this job" he sighed.

"Why not take a break then?"

Isamu almost jumped completely forgetting that he wasn't alone, he then faced the young boy. Now that he thought of it, didn't he buy the whole VIP area to ensure no one was there? Then how did this . . .

The young boy smiled "Don't worry, I foresee a long vacation for ahead for you"

* * *

"That old bastard's overreacting" Masakado grumbled as he returned to his seat "Like the authorities would even arrest me right now they don't even have proof, and who would think I'd take some cheap train to Vancouver?"

As he opened the cabin he noticed that no one was there.

"Where did they go?" Masakado closed the door and looked around the tiny space, he felt that there was something off but choose to ignore it. The cabin was composed of two leather seats attached to both ends of the room with a tiny oak coffee table in the middle, there were coverts on the side to hide luggage, the wine and glasses.

As of now, they were passing by a vast cornfield and the only view that could be seen for miles was farmland. This was something that Masakado did not enjoy so he pulled in the curtains. The man then sat back on his seat but only for a moment before he decided he needed a drink.

"Stupid butler, not there when you need him" he grumbled looking through the several coverts in the room not knowing which one held the alcohol. As he walked around the room he tripped on something and fell to the carpeted floor.

"FOR FUCK SAKE WHAT . . ." he then realized that it was the white cane the blind guy held awhile back. "Stupid . . . huh" he then took a closer look at the cane.

"Where's the handle?" it was in here that he felt something on his back, this made him freeze.

"Sorry, I dropped that earlier"

Masakado tried to look behind him but he felt the pressure of the blade "Wh... .wha. . . where's Isamu" he stuttered.

"That is none of your concern" the blade was now slowly crawling up from Masakado's back going to his neck "And sooner or later, you won't be anyone's concern"

"WHO ARE YOU!?" the purple haired man was in a panic, his heart was racing and he could feel the back of his collar drenched with sweat. "YOU CAN'T BE THE POLICE?!"

His assassin snorted "It seems you're not a dumb as they say you are"

Masakado wondered if the train was going to stop because he realized that being on the floor was making him quite dizzy "Who . . . who sent you?"

"A lot of people are mad at you" at this the blade did a small cut on his neck blood was slowly flowing "Mothers, fathers, sons and daughters. Teachers, prostitutes, bankers and students. To think that the biggest crime is not murder but actually stealing"

"LOOK I'LL PAY YOU! MY DAD WILL PAY YOU!" the sword was lifted from his neck, with this Masakado sighed. He then saw a pair of burgundy boots he gasped before slowing looking up to see the face of his killer, not only was he no longer blind but "Wasn't you hair blac . . ." he sentence cut off when in one swoosh motion his head was chopped off.

The floor was now filled with blood from the blood oozing out of the dead man's decapitated body. The head had rolled into the other side of the room with its mouth wide open and eyes almost bulging.

Minato inspected his chokuto before swinging it to remove the blood staining the mirror nearby in the process. He stared unto his reflection for a moment "Blue still suits me better"

* * *

A Kirijo never runs away. A Kirijo must face all obstacles thrust upon him or her. A Kirjo must never disobey the idealogy of their elders. A Kirijo is always responsible.

That was the philosophy that had been engrained in her system ever since she was a child. As most children of giant conglomerates she had been trained in the art of etiquette, social interaction and business in preparation for her future. Despite this she had lived a mostly happy life, she could still entertain hobbies like fencing and riding her motorbike and she went to a 'normal' school (it was at least not a boarding school in the middle of the Alps).

Despite this, her father had tried his best to lessen the burden placed on his daughter. He told her that she could dream, he told her that there were other things in life other than leading the Group and he even stated that running the company wasn't her number one priority.

And for a little while during her late teens, she had actually believed in that.

That was until her father died.

"Today Mitsuru you have died. You must now put away all personal opinions and beliefs aside. Your life is now dedicated to the Group." Her grandmother told her the day she found out about her father's murder "Your uttermost loyalty will be bestowed upon the Group. You are now officially a Kirjo, you will step into the shoes of your ancestors before you. It is your uttermost duty to not bring shame and disappointment to the company and to our family name"

It had been a lot to swallow, especially for a girl who has just reached adulthood.

Despite only hearing her through the phone Mitsuru could still feel her grandmother's glowering gaze upon her "You have no right to cry. You shall be the pillar so you must exude strength. The only way for you to mourn is for you to carry on the legacy, which is your top priority. Your father's murderers may have succeeded in bringing him down, but they must not let the Group fall"

As the dutiful daughter she is with no hesitation she said "I will grandmother"

"As expected" and with that, the elder Kirijo hung up.

The young lady took a moment before slowly lowering her phone from her ear. She was in the middle of a lecture in her Positive Accounting and Finance class when she got the call. Now she was outside her classroom leaning against the wall for support.

She needed time to process this. She needed some time to help her breath and let herself calm down.

But sadly despite being the heir of one of the biggest conglomerates in not only Japan but the world, she did not have the luxury of time with her.

She could feel tears about to roll from her face but she stopped them from getting out. She just realized that she was clutching quite tightly unto her phone. "What do I do now. . ." she whispered.

* * *

That had been a few months ago. While she was still a university student she now divided her time between lectures and meetings with the shareholders and other important figures. On the day of her father's funeral, she made sure that she did not shed a tear. She kept herself composed enough to show that she was a worthy successor of the Kirijo mantle.

Her mother who had returned from abroad became worried about her daughters emotional capacity but she could not question it, she had no right to, her grandmother made sure of that.

She had just finished a meeting with the company's accountants regarding an audit that would occur later that month. She wore a grey denim Altuzarra jacket, white slacks and a pair of white Vince Vigo Leather Mules. Her long flowy red hair was tied into a chignon and the only make-up she wore was her signature red lipstick thrown in with mascara for good measure.

As she walked the halls of her building heading for her office she could feel the stares of other employees. While she didn't have complete control over the company yet (she will once she graduates) she had already made a couple of big waves that affected a few or more departments.

Already used to being analyzed and scrutinized she kept a passive face. Already her nickname from high school was used to describe her in the office, whenever she heard whispers of Ice Queen she immediately knew they were talking about her.

When she had finally reached her office she let out a sigh.

It had been months since her father's death but she still kept the office he left as is. The glass-walled room was filled with over twelve different kinds of plants; there was a weirdly shaped white desk in the centre of the room, a spiral bookshelf on one side and a private meeting room on the other.

On the desk were a computer, portfolios that needed to be checked, a cup of matcha tea (probably brought in by Kikuno) and three photos of the family: one of Takeharu and his wife shortly after their marriage, one of the family when Mitsuru was around eight and another one was Mitsuru during her debutante ball.

The redhead slumped into her seat and closed her eyes. It was still the start of the term so she didn't have to worry too much about schoolwork yet and so far things seem to be going smoothly for the audit.

What did trouble Mitsuru though, was her arranged marriage.

There had already been talks of this during her high school years. When Kirijo Group was going into a slight slump at that time she engaged to the son of the Ito Group, a company that was willing to pay off the debts of the company.

Mitsuru really didn't like Masakado that much, in fact, she could say she wasn't a fan. Sure she was older than him and had more experience in the business world than her at that time and he had a distinctive look. But the man was shown to be quite spoiled, he would only drink a certain brand of bottled water, he hated picking Mitsuru up from her dorm stating it had 'the plague' and he would constantly verbally abuse his poor butler.

Even Takeharu had some doubts about the union but Mitsuru not wanting her father to be stressed regarding the matter stated that she enjoyed the bastard's time and wouldn't mind marrying him.

When it had been agreed that they would be married by the time Mitsuru graduated she had been constantly mentally preparing herself for what would probably the start of the worst years of her life. For a moment she even considered having someone to hypnotize her she would have the mentality of a doll or something.

It was in here when the Rose Financial scandal broke. It turns out that Masakado Ito; head of the Rose Financial was running an illegal unregistered managed investment scheme and had been engaged in misleading and deceptive trade conduct. Not only did this drag down the Ito Group by the Kirijo Group as well.

Since then Masakado had been in hiding and the engagement had been called off. For once Mitsuru had been actually relieved, only for her hopes to be dampened by her grandmother who insisted they continue the engagement.

While it was true that Rose Financial had collapsed, the Ito Group was still strong and thus still legible for a merger. And now that her father was dead, she was sure that grandmother would be calling back the seamstress who designed her wedding gown.

But it seemed the gods had bestowed mercy upon her.

Mitsuru opened the computer and what popped up was a news article "ROSE FINANCE CEO FOUND DEAD ON TRAIN TO VANCOUVER" with the picture of Masakado and the train he was on. Apparently, Masakado had been hiding in around in North America ever since the scandal broke moving from city to city, only to be discovered dead in his train cabin with a decapitated head. His butler Isamu was found tied up and unconscious in the train cabins storage room and the only lead the police had was a pink luggage bag.

"He may have been a despicable person," Mitsuru thought out loud "But did he really deserve death?"

"Madam your tea is getting cold" the doors opened for a woman with purple hair wearing a lace headpiece on her head, a white polo with a black blazer, dark gloves, black pants and heels.

Mitsuru looked up from the monitor "I was going to drink it" she gave her childhood friend a smile.

The woman approached until she was right in front of Mitsuru's desk and placed her arms behind her "You should be relieved, your engagement was finally terminated"

"But not like this" the heiress placed her fingers unto her lips "Death . . . just doesn't seem right"

"Sadly this is the world that we live in" another figure entered the room, a middle-aged man with dark brown eyes, long wavy brown hair and a goatee. "Well good evening Mitsuru" he faced the purple haired girl "And good evening to you too Kikuno"

The maid nodded "A pleasant evening to you to sir"

Mitsuru stood up "Ah Ikutsuki, is there something the matter?"

"Forgive me for disturbing you this late" the man adjusted his glasses "But I have an important matter to discuss with you"

"And what might that be?" the redhead walked around her desk to approach Ikutsuki.

"It has regards to your safety"

Mitsuru was taken aback by this "My safety?"

Kikuno, on the other hand, felt as if she had been slapped in the face "Are you doubting my skills, Ikutsuki-san?"

"Oh no not at all!" he waved his hand "While you indeed have a more than capable bodyguard under your hands . . . there are . . . ahem, other matters . . . that need to be settled"

This made the heiress raise a brow "Other matters"

"I'm sure that you are aware of the other business dealings your father and the company has been involved in"

At this, she paled "I . . . am aware"

"Please do not make the mistress uncomfortable" Kikuno gave the man a glare.

Trying to ignore the death glares of an overprotective maid Ikutsuki continued "This company has made a lot of enemies over the years Mitsuru. As I said we live in a very dangerous world, it's a battle for survival as they say. That was very evident especially in the way your father died"

Keeping a neutral tone in her voice "What are you suggesting here Chairman?"

"I think you know very well what I mean Mitsuru" he adjusted his glasses "I know that this might be a hurdle for you, but you must overcome it"

"I can't hire a hitman" Mitsuru looked at the floor.

"Don't you want to avenge the people who killed your father?"

The redhead turned her back on the chairman "I do . . . but . . ."

"Don't you want to eradicate the sleazy men who think they're above the law and do whatever they please using their money and power?"

At this Kikuno interjected, "What does that have to do with the Group?"

Ikutsuki did a smile which made the maid uneasy "It ensures the safety of our employees, several members of the board receive death threats every day. . . and I'm sure Mitsuru has received a couple as well. I'm simply suggesting that we take down any potential killers, no need to go on a killing spree"

Mitsuru closed her eyes "I'll . . . think about it"

"With that then I shall be taking my leave" Ikutsuki then turned to leave "Hopefully the elevators are still on"

Kikuno opened the door for the man "And why is that"

"I never really trust stairs, they're always up to something" the chairman quipped.

"Goodnight sir" Kikuno took everything within her to not slam the door at him. As soon as the chairman left she turned to her charge who seemed to be in deep thought "You don't have to decide now madam . . ."

"He's right though" Mitsuru sighed facing her friend "What makes you think that the people who killed my father won't try to kill me as well"

"But madam!"

"You are a valued friend Kikuno, I . . . I would be a terrible friend if I made you kill people for my behalf" Mitsuru closed her eyes "I think I have an overdue meeting . . . with the Velvet Room"

* * *

Her brother was late.

It was after school and it was raining quite heavily. She was the only student left in the shed that was near the school gate. Out of all the times she had forgotten her umbrella and rail pass it was today.

This left her with no choice but to pray to the gods that her brother had come back from his business trip and would give her a ride home. It was both a good and bad thing. The good thing was he was indeed back; the bad thing was he was an hour late.

"I should have just went with Ken-chan" groaned a girl with auburn hair tied into a high ponytail wearing a Gekkoukan High School uniform as she watched the bullets of rain that fell from heaven "But then again he seemed to be in a rush . . . oh well"

It was in here that a black sports car drove by the school, it was so fast that most people would miss it.

The young girl rubbed her eyes "Was that . . ." in her here her stomach gave a nice loud growl reminding her for not eating lunch "I must be hallucinating from hunger"

Again she heard an engine and looked up to see a black BMW i8 coming over and stopping right in front of her. At this, she frowned and crossed her arms.

The window of the car lowered and it showed her older brother "Well aren't you going to get in?"

The girl stared at him disappointingly before looking away with a hmph.

"I'm sorry I was late" he raised his hands "But you know how far the airport is right?"

"It's literally a thirty-minute drive from here" she glared at her sibling "And using this car it'd probably take fifteen"

He gave her a look "I am not breaking traffic rules just because you keep forgetting things"

"YOU MAKE ME WAIT FOR AN HOUR AND ALL YOU'RE DOING IS LECTURING ME!"

"Well fine" he waved his hand "Good luck walking back home in the rain then"

"Then I'll just wait for the rain to stop"

"It'll be dark by then"

"I can handle myself!"

"You can't even handle your stomach" and at that moment her stomach choose to growl, which lead to the older boy to smirk "See"

"SHUT UP!" she yelled as she opened the car door and slammed it close before crossing her arms.

The older boy just snorted at his sister's antics "Looks like someone didn't eat lunch today, eh Hamuko?"

The girl just remained quiet and stared at the window. With that, the older boy started the car and made their drive home.

After a while, Hamuko asked her brother "Hey Minato-nee-chan . . ."

The blue-haired boy faced her sister from the corner of his eye "Yeah?"

"Did . . ." she paused looking at her feet.

"Did I what?"

"Did you . . . happen to buy food on the way here?"


	2. Mai

The sounds of a flowing fountain, the chatter of young schoolgirls, the snoring of an overworked office employee and the faint echoes of a bossa nova song played in the background. When she arranged a meeting with the strange organization she had expected it to be in a more discrete place. Not something like Paulownia Mall.

Right now she was in a record store passing time by looking at the selection offered. Even when she was in high school she never really spent that much time in the mall, if anything the only shop she had entered was Chagall Café.

Mitsuru wore a white Jill Sander shirt dress that almost reached the floor, Penny Preville ruby amulet hoop earrings, a Baccarat par Marie-Hèlene de Taillac necklace, and a pair of Dannijo white riles crystal-trimmed leather sandals.

"I think I might be a little overdressed for this store" Mitsuru pondered as she noticed a few schoolboys from Gekkoukan High looking at her. She then looked at her pink Piaget Altiplano watch "She should be here by now"

"I presume that you must be Miss Kirijo" a voice spoke from behind.

Mitsuru turned around to see what she would say a very . . . eclectic woman. She was a little bit taller than her with short white hair and yellow eyes that show a bit of mischief and curiosity. She wore a very tiny tube top that covered only her breasts exposing her collarbones and stomach, a pair of leather pants, black cuffs, a pair of black ankle boots and a tiny black hat perched on the side of her head. She carried a dark blue suitcase.

The redhead blinked for a moment before replying "Are . . . you Elizabeth?"

"I apologize for my current appearance" the woman had a very odd tone to her voice adding to her already very strange aura "But I was visiting another client earlier and this was my way of blending in"

"I . . . suggest we chat somewhere else" Mitsuru could see that one of the schoolboys who was staring at her awhile back is now drooling over the slightly exposed Elizabeth.

The woman smiled "Why yes, why don't we have a chat outside? There are benches by the fountain and I hadn't made my weekly offering yet" before Mitsuru could suggest a more private place Elizabeth started to skip towards the fountain.

Seeing as she had no choice Mitsuru followed the woman and sat in one of the benches by the fountain. For a very discrete organization, their people liked to grasp attention Mitsuru thought.

"So . . ." Elizabeth clapped her hands together "Shall we begin" she then opened the suitcase she carried and Mitsuru noticed that it bore a design of a mask halved into a black and white side. Elizabeth then brought out a red leather folder and a pen as though she was a magician who brought them out of thin air "Now please, sign here" she said handing the contract to Mitsuru.

The Kirijo heiress took the folder and opened the contract as she read its contents her eyebrow rose "Umm . . . may I ask . . . who the person I'm hiring is?"

"That will be for Master Igor to decide" Elizabeth replied "You see he's the one who assesses which among our contacts is most suitable for the job. And so far he never gets it wrong"

Mitsuru bit her lip "I might as well trust his judgement then . . ." her hand was slightly shaking as she lowered her pen to the blank space with her name.

Elizabeth noticed the hesitation "Is there something the matter Kirijo-san?"

"I . . ." Mitsuru shook her head, she was supposed to be firm about her decisions not second-guessing in the last minute "I just feel like . . . even though I was not the one who laid a hand on my enemies I was the one solely responsible for plotting them so . . . in the end I'm still the murderer"

In here Elizabeth tapped her chin as she stared at the fountain "The world is quite a simple place but it's the humans who try to make things complicated. But then again . . ." she smirked "That's what makes things quite interesting"

Mitsuru blinked.

"From working for the Velvet Room I realized that most of our clients have one thing in common: protection. They always have something to protect: their money, their power, their loved ones and other things." The woman then stood up and walked over to the fountain "Everyone has a motive, everyone has a dream in which they want to attain and everyone is selfish. Which is why when someone else threatens to take something you value the most, it's almost human nature to do everything in their power to protect it"

"I see your point in there Elizabeth" Mitsuru closed the contract "While I do want to protect the Kirijo Group and everything that it stands for . . . it seems as though I've become like the people who called for my father's death"

Elizabeth turned to her "Your father was assassinated?"

Mitsuru closed her eyes "He was found dead in our headquarters basement, he was shot and there seemed to be no clues of his killer found" she opened her eyes "It makes me wonder . . . if one of your contacts did it"

At this the attendant's face became sympathetic "I apologize for your loss . . . but while we are a single organization that supervises authorized assassins, that does not mean there are rogues out there." She then brought out a large velvet pouch "Believe or not the Velvet Room actually holds a strong moral code. While our contacts are normally labelled vigilantes most of them believe that it's what must be done. There are people out there who try and defy the law by using their power and influence, while we do not consider ourselves judges or beholders of justice, we believe that at the end of the day there's always an eye for an eye" and with that the woman opened her pouch letting several golden coins fall into the fountain.

"Is that so . . ." she opened the contract again "Before I sign this contract, I have one request"

Elizabeth blinked "And what may that be?"

"May I meet with whoever Mr. Igor decides to be my contract killer?"

* * *

"This may hurt a bit" Minato said as inserted a talwar into his victim's mouth.

Today's victim was Takako Aimi, a fashion designer who was notable for raping models in order to include them in his fashion shows. He was in his mid-fifties, quite obese, bald and had a thick beard.

The man struggled with his binds that bound him to a chair; he thrashed his body trying to get out only for him to make things worse. Blood started to come out of the man's mouth flowing into his clothes and some dripping on the floor.

When Aimi finally stopped struggling Minato pulled out the sabre out of his mouth making more blood come out. The man then collapsed to the ground choking and coughing on his own blood.

Minato then picked up the bloodied man to make him sit again. He then grabbed a bottle of lavender scented talcum powder and covered the victim's hands with it.

"Wh . . . what . . ." the fashion designer panted "Are . . . you . . . go gonna do with that"

Placing the bottle in a plastic bag "Just stuff to lead the police investigation astray" Minato then went over to the balcony and opened the doors letting the cold breeze enter the room.

He then pulled Aimi by the chair and dragged him into the balcony; they were currently on the forty-fifth floor of Aimi's apartment building.

The old man continued to struggle "You . . . can't possibly throw me!?"

The blue-haired man looked at the drop then back at the old man "Yeah you're pretty heavy, if I try carrying you-you might drag me with you"

There was a moment of silence. Only the sounds of city traffic and the television from Aimi's living room could be heard.

"I'll just have to wing it" Minato then struck Aimi's head with his elbow making the man fall on the floor again and lose consciousness. He then cut the ropes with his talwar and kicked the chair back into the apartment. He then did a moment of stretching before carrying the 180-pound man over his shoulder and tossing him out of the balcony.

Without looking down to see how his victim's brains exploded he grabbed his sword locked the balcony and made his escape out of the apartment.

He was around seven blocks from the crime scene when he dumped the bag of bloodied talc powder in a trashcan of an electronics store. He walked away even further and threw the murder weapon on a pile of bushes in front of someone's house.

After walking around the area for almost an hour Minato then checked his Audemars Piguet watch to see that it was three minutes to five in the morning. He then brought out his flip phone from the pocket of his sweatshirt and then sent a text message to a certain person.

By the time he had reached the bus station and paid for his ticket, he could feel his phone vibrating "Hello?"

"Did you eat? What time did you sleep? Have you taken a shower? Where did . . ." several questions continued to be bombarded at him.

Minato rolled his eyes at his sister's antics "Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?"

"I'm not a child anymore I can handle myself"

"Really?" he entered the bus "What did you have for dinner last night?"

"Steamed meat buns"

Minato sighed "Didn't I leave a burrito casserole in the fridge before I left?"

At that Hamuko burped "I'm a growing girl, I need more than that"

"Which is why you should learn how to cook"

"HEY! I'm not that bad!"

"Then how do you describe what happened to you and Fuuka . . ."

"Hey, you know I still have school to head to so I'm heading out see you this afternoon!" and with that, she hung up.

The blue-haired boy just shook his head and smiled as he placed his phone back in his pocket. He then brought out his tried and tested headphones and clipped them into his ear and placed his mp3 player on shuffle, it was gonna be a ten-hour drive after all.

* * *

Minato was around ten when their parents died with Hamuko being seven. It had been a miracle that both of them managed to survive the accident, but that was probably because their mother had used herself as a shield to protect her children.

They were passed around by several of their relatives. At first, they stayed with their great-aunt in Hinata helping her run an inn. While the woman was quite accommodating to them, she decided to go on an extravagant around the world trip. While she did pass the inn to her grandson he didn't seem ready to take care of two children.

Sadly the next relative after that wasn't too nice.

* * *

This certain aunt and uncle were definitely and odd couple. One was the editor-in-chief of a very famous fashion magazine while the other was a highly decorated narcotics officer. While they were given clothes, shelter and education it sadly came with a price.

Minato could recall himself waking up at 3 in the morning being dragged by his drunken uncle who just had a bad break in a case. He would pull the young boy outside, first, he would start by constantly berating him and demoralizing him. He would call him names, make fun of his family and would always say 'I can't wait to shoot you out in the streets'.

After the verbal abuse, Minato would then beat up. It was either by being kicked in the gut constantly until he coughed blood, bending over and being whipped by a log of wood or be sprayed with very hot water until he got burnt. By the time his uncle was done with him, he would crawl back into his room and try to get ready for breakfast.

While Hamuko didn't receive the same morning routine as his brother she wasn't exactly pampered as well. The young girl was only ten years old when her aunt gave her a certain diet. It involved avoiding eating lunch, constant exercise by running on a treadmill and barfing out any 'unwanted fat'. Whenever Hamuko would fail her monthly weigh-in test she would be banished from eating food for three days and only be given water.

It had gone on for three years. None of the siblings could complain or run away because they literally had no place to go. All their other relatives had their hands full with their children and they didn't want to risk being separated.

The final straw happened when Minato was in his final year of middle school. He still hadn't recovered from that morning's beating and he was still limping from last week. He had opened the door and the first thing he heard was erratic screaming.

"NO! NO! STOP! BROTHER BROTHER!"

At once the hairs on the back of his neck went up and he immediately ran to the source of the screaming. He ran around the house looking for his sister, he was wet from rain, sweat and probable blood from his limp. By the time he had reached the backyard his heart sank.

There he saw crawling in the rain covered in mud was his sister. Her clothes had been ripped off and there were scratches on her legs, her eyes were red from crying and she was shaking in both coldness and fear. Hovering over her was their uncle. From the looks of it, he's probably gotten high from one of the confiscated drugs again.

"Now now Hamuko-chan" the older man had a creepy smile on his face "Why don't you show some love to uncle"

Hamuko just screamed and tried to run away but she was now getting tired.

Minato was frozen trying to think of what to do. So far none of them noticed he was there so he had a chance for a surprise attack. Immediately he ran back into the house and went to the living room he then grabbed the katana that was displayed on the wall and unsheathed it from its scabbard.

The young boy stared at the weapon. While he was a member of the Kendo team and knew how to hold a sword he did not know if he would be able to take down his uncle. He was breathing heavily, his hand shaking as he held the sword.

"MINATO!"

Crack!

Later that night the aunt came home. The rain had stopped and it was already dark outside. "Jun'ichi, did you forget to change the bulb again?" she asked looking at the dark house.

She then turned on the lights to a dropped book bag with scattered books and notebooks. The old woman sneered "Those messy brats" she kicked a copy of Ramon Llull's Blanquerna which was among the books scattered on the floor.

"Hamuko, I hope you swallowed your three ice cubes for today" the woman then stopped when she entered the living room when she noticed that their rare Kanemitsu sword was missing from its mantle. "That fool" she growled running around the house looking for her husband "Jun'ichi! How many times must I tell you to never use that sword to whip the Arisato boy?!"

Despite her yelling and stomps, she heard no other sound from the house. Usually, by now, she could hear that blasted young girl's whimpering or Minato hissing from trying to heal his wounds. "Is anybody even in here... .?"

It was in here where she opened the door to the backyard, and what she saw was not a pretty sight.

"What . . . on . . ." the old woman gasped.

Right in the middle of the backyard was her husband kneeling on the floor in a pool of his own blood; his eyes and mouth were wide open seemingly to have been caught by surprise before his death.

"Don't . . . tell me" she glared "That brat . . ."

"Welcome home, oba-san" she felt the tip of the blade touch her neck and the breath of her nephew as he spoke to her "You don't mind that I use this?"

The editor shook in fear "What . . . what . . . do you . . . plan to do with that?"

"This"

* * *

"Gak!" Minato gasped as he woke up from his nap. The young man held unto his neck as he panted, remembering very well how he murdered his aunt Homoka that fateful day.

"Are . . . you okay?" asked the Brazilian male tourist who was beside him throughout the trip in broken Japanese. Minato didn't even realize he had a seatmate since he fell asleep.

He raised a hand "I'm good" he replied as he grabbed a bottle of water from his backpack and drank it in one go. He then realized that it was already past three in the afternoon and they were already in Tatsumi Port.

He then heard a certain ringtone from his pocket. He knew very well who the caller was before he answered the call "Hello?"

"Have you arrived safely to Tatsumi Port, Makoto Yuki?"

* * *

It was Sunday and since Hamuko didn't have school that meant she had more time to work in her part-time job. For any teenager that would have been a pain seeing as their vacation was cut short, but for Hamuko it wasn't that much of a bother.

"Oh, Hamu-chan" called out a small elderly lady wearing a white floral dress with a black duster carrying a tray of Castella and herbal tea. "Why don't you come down and have a little snack"

The auburn haired girl was currently on a ladder grabbing a certain book for Bunkichi "Sure! Just a minute" she then grabbed a thick red hardbound book before going down. She was currently wearing a white blouse under a pink knitted sweater, a navy blue pleated skirt that reached to her knees, a black duster and a pair of white sneakers.

"What did that old fool ask you to get from so high up" the elderly lady asked.

"Oh it's fine" Hamuko waved her hand as she placed the heavy book on the desk "That's my job in here after all"

It was in here an elderly man who was crouched over because of his bad back wearing a white sweater, worn out jeans and a pair of glasses came by "Mitsuko stop pestering the child, she's busy working"

This made said woman roll her eyes "Oh shush, there's no customer to serve right now anyway"

"All you do is feed her!" the old man waved his pipe "She'll turn out like you if you keep doing that!"

"I wouldn't mind that really," the young girl said as she placed a slice of Castella in her mouth.

At this Bunkichi hollered "Oh, be careful what you say, young lady, you might regret that"

"I think it would be you who would regret saying that" replied Mitsuko with a scoff.

That was when the bell rang indicating the sign of a customer. A tall man wearing a black beanie and a maroon peacoat entered the bookstore. He seemed to possess an intimidating aura as he scanned the shelves.

The elderly couple almost flinched at the appearance of this man with even Mitsuko going close to Hamuko.

"I hope that boy doesn't bring in any trouble" Mitsuko whispered.

Despite being equally frightened Bunkichi tried to put out a brave front "Oh don't overreact, you've just gotten too worked up over the murders you see happening in the news lately"

"Murders?" Hamuko asked as she took a sip of the now slightly cold herbal tea.

"Oh there's just this one recently about a fashion designer who fell off his building" Bunkichi waved his cigar "Though the police believe there's foul play because there was powder in his hands or something"

His wife had an uneasy feeling "Don't go into the details dear"

While the old couple were arguing Hamuko noticed that the strange costumer was looking for something and the dimly lit and cluttered store didn't make anything easier. "I'm going to assist the guy over there," she said excusing herself from Mitsuko.

"Let the girl do her job!" she heard Bunkichi scold his wife from afar as she approached the guy.

He was very tall, maybe around six feet compared to her five foot five height. He seemed to have a passive look on his face as he scanned the mountains upon mountains of books.

"Excuse me, sir, can I help you?" she asked perkily which made the man jump in surprise.

After recovering from his slight shock her face her, for a moment he just stared at her and it made the redhead feel a bit uncomfortable.

"Uhh . . ." she rubbed the side of her cheek "I just noticed that you were having trouble looking for something . . . umm . . . so I thought I would help you"

Still keeping his gaze "Do you guys have something about herbal medicine or medicine making in general?"

Her finger stopped scratching "Medicine?... Oh, they're over here" she gestured the man to follow her "Are you looking for something particular? Like juice making? Pill making... .?" she paused in her tracks and gave him a suspicious look "You're not planning on doing any funny business now are you?"

"Whatever you're thinking, it isn't that" he growled.

"Is that so" she eyed him as he brought him to the back left corner of the store and pointed to the bottom of a shelf "Those books you're looking for should be around here, but there might be some that are scattered around in other sections. You see we only started reorganizing the place ever since it reopened."

He gave her a nod "I can manage from here"

Hamuko took a step back and made her way to leave, only to quickly hide behind another bookshelf nearby and spy on the customer. She removed a copy of The Merchant of Venice from the shelf and peeped into the hole. She couldn't see anything at first except the tip of his beanie "Oh right he's crouched down" she muttered. She then put back the book then crouched down herself and removed another book before peeping again.

This time she could see his back and he seemed to flip over a few books "Is he trying to make homemade drugs or something?" she whispered to herself.

"Oh Hamu-chan!" at the sudden call of her name she jumped making her head hit the top of the shelf; the impact was strong that a few books fell to the ground.

She pulled herself out and covered her head as it was now in pain "Awwwwieee" she moaned.

"Oh, dear are you okay?" Mitsuko asked with an apologetic look on her face "I'm sorry to scare you but Bunkichi needs your help with new encyclopedias he ordered last week, they just arrive you see"

"Uhh sure," the redhead said sheepishly "I'll . . . be right there"

"Thank you dear" and with that, she was left alone.

Hamuko sighed "Alright" she then crawled back to her hole to see that the man was looking right at her.

"Aren't you going to help your old boss?" he said in a deadpan tone.

Hamuko hit her head again after that.

* * *

"Ah it's been awhile Yuki-chan!" a guy with swept black hair wearing a very overbearing yellow scarf ran to Minato as soon as he entered the building.

"I just saw you the other day" the blunet dodged the other guy's hug.

Ryoji pretended to almost fall to the ground before putting a hand on his chest "Ah, you wound me Yuki-chan"

"What's with calling me Yuki-chan?"Minato placed his hands on his pockets.

Ryoji straightened "Aww, now don't be so cold and serious" he waved his finger "You might just end up like old man Tatsuya"

The blunet sighed "Could you just let me through, Elizabeth called me earlier"

"Ah, so Igor choose you for that job" Ryoji waggled his eyebrows "Hmm, this will be interesting"

"Don't you have some other place to be?" Minato clenched his fists.

At this, the brunet let out a mirthless laugh "Ah of course I do, I have to deal with some greedy heiress who just can't want for her grandfather to die"

"I'm surprised you're alright with killing a woman this time" Minato raised a brow.

"Well, we can't let Maya do all the dirty work for us" Ryoji waved his hand "She'll think we're being sexists"

"I . . . see" Minato then moved past him "Well then I better go . . ."

"Hey!" Ryoji tapped Minato's shoulder "I was about to ask how your sister was going"

"Doing better without you!"

"Ah, Master Yuki is here" both boys turned to see Elizabeth dressed her usual blue attendant uniform "Master Igor is waiting for you" she gestured to a set of elevator doors that were on the left side of the lobby.

At this Ryoji lowered his head "Ah, you've been summoned. That means I have to go now"

"Are you buying time perhaps?" Elizabeth cocked her head.

"Maybe" with that Ryoji waved and finally left.

Minato unclenched his fists and faced the attendant "He apparently knew what request Igor had for me"

"Well Master Pharos does like to meddle" Elizabeth then went over to the elevator doors and pressed a button "Now if you please" she gestured to the open door.

The assassin then entered the room and immediately the doors were shut. For an elevator, space was quite excessive. The room had glass walls that showed the gears and ropes of the elevator shaft, there was soft velvet carpeting, a blue chesterfield sofa right in front of a large intimidating desk that no one knows what it's made of and a giant clock behind it which ticking sound gets louder when fear grows stronger.

"Well greetings and welcome back" greeted the small man with a particularly long nose seated behind the desk.

Minato just nodded his head in acknowledgement and sat on the elegant sofa "It seems you have another request"

"I apologize, you seem to be quite busy this month" a smile erupted on the strange man's face "But as always your work is quite efficient"

"There was sort of a struggle in the last one" Minato commented "I underestimated him"

"His strength or his size?"

Minato remained silent.

At this Igor gave a light laugh, which to the normal person would sound like maniacal laughter but his colleagues got disturbingly used to it "Well the assignment I'm about to give you is a little special"

"Special?" Minato gave his boss a look, the last time he got a special request he was chased down by the Russian mafia and had to hide in Cuba for a month.

Igor folded his long gloved hands together "Oh yes, it appears that a company wants to hire someone from us to stand as some sort of bodyguard"

"Which one?"

"Kirijo Group" Igor brought out a contract and placed it on his desk "It seems that the current head is being targeted and they want to put those assassins to sleep"

Minato stood up and went over to the desk to look at the file "Wasn't their last head killed?"

"They don't want a repeat of that apparently" Igor leaned back against his chair "Seeing as she's the last Kirijo left"

Minato closed the file "She didn't sign the contract"

"Ah that's what makes it so special" Igor smirked "She apparently wants a job interview before hiring you"

"What?"

"Well I normally don't allow these sorts of things to happen" Igor took the file from Minato "But Elizabeth was quite persistent"

The young hitman crossed his arms "So why did you choose me for this one?"

"Well she's only a year older than you so I thought you'd get along with her just fine" Igor then opened his drawer to bring out his pipe "Also, out of the contacts you're the one who's most likely to go along with it"

"If you say so" Minato shrugged "So I guess I won't be signing it yet"

"Not yet" Igor snapped his fingers and Elizabeth came in with a lighter and lit the pipe "Elizabeth do you have something to say?"

The attendant faced the hitman "If possible would you mind convincing Miss Kirijo to let her hire you, I tried my best but she still seems hesitant"

"You seem to like the girl" Igor commented.

Elizabeth had a determined look on her face "I believe that she just needs a push, she's been through a lot you see"

For a moment Minato hesitated, he was never really good at job interviews that was why he choose this as a career in the first place "I'll . . . see what I can do"

At that the attendant gave a smile "Excellent, I already forwarded her personal phone number"

"What!?" he grabbed his phone and indeed there was a text message from Liz.

"Good luck then"

* * *

When it was announced last week that all nuclear plants in Japan were to be shut down, a few businessmen grumbled at the decision. While some agreed that it was for the safety of the people especially after what happened during the earthquake, others were mad because of the waste of potential.

"This is madness" Aono pounded his fist on the table during a board meeting "Our power plants are stable and state of the art. No earthquake or flood could damage the facility"

"Well the country is currently in a state of shock, in fact not only the country but also the world," said an older man, Wada "Everyone is now weary regarding nuclear power and the damages that it could cost"

"They're all stuck in the past!" said another man, Ishii "Nuclear energy is the safest alternative source of power! Compare that to the wind which is impractical and geothermal energy with its gases"

That was when Iwasaki spoke "If we don't shut down our power plant the government will be on our tails"

"Screw the government!"

"Calm down Aono!"

"This is ridiculous if you . . . "

". . . . Now, look at it at this way . . ."

Several other board members continued to argue with each other.

"Now now" Ikutsuki waved his hands "Please romaine calm"

"SHUT IT WITH YOUR PUNS DAMMIT!"

"THEY'RE NOT EVEN FUNNY!"

At this, the chairman wiped a tear from his eye "Now you don't have to get too purr-sonal"

"ARGH"

"Maybe we should ask Miss Kirijo regarding this matter"

"Do you think she would handle this big of a matter?"

"Isn't she a genius they say?"

"She's still too young"

Ikutsuki ignored the criticism regarding his puns and clapped his hands to gain the attention of the board "Now then that's a fine idea, why don't we ask the opinion of Miss Kirijo since she's the current CEO after all"

A few more grumbles were heard throughout the room.

"It's settled then" Ikutsuki stood up "Now then this meeting is adjourned" he then went to the door "Now you people take care of yourselves. I heard this year's flu is going viral"

* * *

The document presented to Mitsuru later that afternoon though had nothing to do with the closing of their power plants. In fact, there was nothing on the piece of paper except a list of names.

"I . . . thought . . ." Mitsuru blinked.

"The board seems pretty divided on the issue" Ikutsuki smiled "While personally, I do agree with Aono that we're wasting potential . . ."

"What's with the list of names?" Mitsuru pointed at the piece of paper "Is this a list of people who agree or disagree with the power plant shutting down?"

For a moment the chairman was silent. He then said "Oh that's a different kind of list"

She gave him a dirty look "Now tell me what kind of list is this?"

He stretched "Well, it's a list of people who hate your father"

At that, the redhead's face contorted "You actually have a list for that!?"

"Well, I've been at this position for a long time so I do see and hear things" the man adjusted his glasses "Also a few of those have even admitted it to his face that they hate him"

"This is ridiculous" Mitsuru turned over the paper not wanting to look at it.

"So . . . I heard that you've contacted the Velvet Room" Ikutsuki gave a lopsided grin "Did they accept your request?"

She crossed her arms over her chest "The . . . the request is still pending"

"I see" the man rubbed his chin "The people there are quite thorough in their work, while personally, I would hire a freelancer but I guess they're more professional and have fewer complications"

Mitsuru just nodded.

"Now I suggest you come to the next board meeting" Ikutsuki stood up to take his leave "I'm sure you could skip a class or two for that"

The redhead stood up and smoothened her skirt "I will" she bowed "Thank you for your work"

The man was already at the door when he said "Now I was going to make a joke about broken pencils" he paused "But I saw no point"

"Goodbye chairman" Kikuno, who Ikutsuki had forgotten was there, slammed the door at his face.

Mitsuru stared at the ceiling "I think I'll have another cup of tea before heading home"

"Oh yes" the maid turned to her "Miss Takeba called"

At the mention of her best friend, Mitsuru's expression changed "Oh did she"

"She wondered if you were free this Friday"

"That's tomorrow"

Kikuno smiled "Precisely"

* * *

Yukari was as enthusiastic as ever Mitsuru noted. As soon as she saw her at their meeting place they went on a not-to-frantic-but-getting-there shopping spree. While Mitsuru did already have a lot of clothes in her house she really didn't mind purchasing a few things. It has been awhile since she actually just spent a day hanging out.

Right now they were having lunch at a restaurant that specialized in sashimi and Yukari was talking about her current modelling career.

"I swear! I'm only twenty but they already treat you like some old hag the moment some high schooler walks in" she pointed with her fork for emphasis "Just because they're giddy and have tiny skirts doesn't mean they're professionals!"

Mitsuru chuckled at her friend's outburst "Well I wouldn't be troubled if I were you. Don't you already have a stable acting job?"

"Ahh . . . well yeah, that's true" the brunette rubbed the back of her head "Anyway, enough about me . . . how about you?"

At this, the redhead's smile faded "Sadly, things don't seem to be going smoothly for me as well"

This made Yukari drop her fork "I mean . . . oh, how rude of me, I shouldn't have asked . . . of course you're going through a lot after . . . that"

"It's okay Yukari" Mitsuru took a sip of her coffee "I'm not as depressed as I was when my father died"

The brunette sighed "Sorry, I guess it's not easy running a company while you're still in college"

"Oh its fine really" Mitsuru waved her hand "I can apply the theories I learn in class in my work environment"

Yukari rubbed her nose "Well . . . that's one way to look at it" she then shifted the topic "Anyway, how's Akihiko-senpai? Is he still skipping school?"

At this, the former student council president sighed "I honestly don't know what's going on in his head sometimes, one minute he's serious about working for the police force the next minute he wants to be as strong as some anime character"

"That's senpai alright"

"He needs to set his priorities straight" she shook her head "At least Junpei know what he wants to do with his life"

At this Yukari twitched her eye "Well . . . he's a totally different story"

"Hmm . . . I guess you're . . ." at this, Mitsuru felt her phone vibrating in her pocket "Would you excuse me for a moment?"

"Oh, it's no problem" Yukari waved.

Mitsuru nodded then stepped out of the restaurant to answer her call. It was quite sunny that day and she was grateful for wearing a light blouse "Hello?"

"You're Mitsuru Kirijo, right?" said the caller who from what she can tell from the voice was male.

She stiffened "Yes, how may I help you?"

"Umm . . . well my boss told me to call you" he paused "And my attendant told me to convince you"

"Attendant . . ." that was when it clicked "So . . . you're a contact for the Velvet Room?"

Minato smirked as he watched the redhead's moments from the restaurant she just exited "Yes, yes I am"

* * *

 **Before anything, yes Minato uses two names. Makoto Yuki for work and Minato Arisato in his personal life, it's debatable on which one is his birth name. Though personally, I prefer Makoto Yuki because it seems more of a realistic name but I dunno.**

 **Thank you to ademolix, Blue Cipher, Tower Knight, KatoriAeku, and Raze Olympus for following and/or favoriting this story.**

 **Please Review.**


	3. Juin

Eating was undeniably something that Hamuko takes pride in. She treats the art of putting food into her mouth as though it were some holy ritual. She loves food. She's practically devoted to food. And it has come to a point where her older brother (who also has quite a large appetite) started to give her the nickname _Gula-chan_ when referring to her gluttony.

So it was not a surprise that as soon as she exited the halls of Gekkoukan High she immediately headed for whatever food joint sparked her interest that day. The flavour of the day was ramen at the slightly rundown but very homely Hagakure.

"I can never understand how you manage to consume so much food and yet still keep your figure" commented her friend and fellow tennis club member, Rio Iwasaki.

Talking while still gobbling some noodles "Ipapapopopopaplent"

"Hamuko chew first!" Rio scolded though unlike her attitude during club activities she said it quite jokingly.

The redhead then swallowed the noodles and soup "Well unlike most girls I don't care about those kinds of things! Besides" she winked "I can always burn the fat during tennis"

The raven-haired girl chuckled "Well that's true" she said before a sad look appeared on her pale features.

Hamuko frowned "You're still upset about the team?"

"I know I shouldn't have it get too me" Rio clutched her chopsticks "But . . . it's not my fault that they're not trying their best"

"Maybe eventually they'll understand," Hamuko said trying to comfort her friend.

"Yeah you're right" Rio sighed then she tried to change the topic "So . . . umm this might be a slightly personal question, but was the guy who sometimes drops you off and picks you up your brother"

At this Hamuko scratched the back of her head "Oh no it's fine to ask. Heck I'm glad you correctly assume he's my brother; there are a couple of people at school who think he's my boyfriend or something"

Rio blinked confusingly "Why would they assume such things? It's quite common for siblings to do those sorts of things"

"Well, I'm sure you know that some of the people, particularly the girls, aren't exactly discrete and have respect for personal boundaries" Hamuko waved her hand laughing it off.

The Sports Department Chief seemed to be in deep thought "I really don't understand some girls. Whenever I see you with your brother in school I hear a girl nearby who seems to be planning your death sentence or some sorts"

At this Hamuko gagged the piece of beef she put into her mouth "They what?!"

"Ah" Rio waved her hands "Don't get me wrong I do see the appeal of your brother but . . ." she looked down at the floor "I don't get why they would do such petty things if they liked him why don't they just tell him how they feel"

Wiping her mouth with a napkin "Well, first of all, my brother is twenty so that's a pretty large age gap" the redhead replied.

"I guess that's true" at this a bitter smile formed on Rio's face "But it's not like age has been a hindrance for most people"

At this Hamuko cocked her head "Are you referring to someone Rio-chan?"

In here the sound of wind chimes could be heard signalling the arrival of a new customer, this did not alert the two schoolgirls much as they continued their chat. Currently, the girls were sitting on the far right side of the counter and Hamuko distracted failed to notice the man who sat next to her.

"Really, I'm not talking about anyone Hamuko!" despite Rio's protest a blush was rising into her normally pale face.

Hamuko tapped her chin "You're not referring to Kenji aren't you?"

At the mention of her childhood friend's name Rio unintentionally raised her voice "NO! I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT THAT STUPID GUY WHO LIKES DUMB TEACHERS WHO TRY TO ACT CUTE DESPITE BEING OLD MAIDS!"

"Hey could you two shut up I'm trying to eat here"

Upon realizing that what she just did Rio closed her mouth and bowed her head in both shame and embarrassment.

This irritated Hamuko who turned to the person who blurted that "Look here . . . ohh" immediately the argument she had planned to say dropped when she realized who was seated beside her.

The beanie-wearing man gave her a look "Hey, aren't you the chick from that bookstore"

"Uhh . . ." Hamuko blinked "Well . . ." she rubbed the back of her head "I don't know . . . maybe?"

Rio lifted her head up looking at her friend "Hamuko do you know this man"

Quickly the redhead faced her "Oh no! He's just mistaking me for some other girl who thought he was planning to make drugs . . ." at this Hamuko closed her mouth and this time it was her turn to bow her head in shame.

The intimidating beanie wearing man smirked "So it was you" he shook his head "No wonder you're an idiot who's quick to judge, you're a highschooler"

With the jab at her pride, Hamuko quickly rose from her embarrassment and faced the man standing up and putting her foot down "Hey! You're the one who's all suspicious with that scary getup and that 'I'm-gonna-kill-you-so-mind-your-own-business' face. And of course, I'd be very suspicious if that guy decides to look up books that could very well be about drug making!"

The smirk on the man's face faded and turned into a scowl "Watch it, kid, if you keep saying that out loud they'd actually think I make drugs"

"Hey, let it go," Rio said pulling the back of Hamuko's uniform "You might get in trouble . . ."

"LIKE HELL I'M SCARED OF THIS GUY!" the now very fired up redhead went very uncomfortably close to the scary man's face, "You think you're all tough with how you dress and how you look at people? Please, I've seen worse"

"Tch, what the hell is your problem" the guy replied clearly irritated.

By now a few patrons were looking at them wondering why this tiny high school girl was seemingly starting a fight with a very scary older man.

The two parties just kept their stares at each other waiting for one of them to flinch. Red eyes stared into grey and it seemed that none of them was willing to back down. Their staring match, however, was cut short when the chef dropped a bowl of ramen in front of them.

"Okay here's the usual Shinji" the cheery ramen chef was completely oblivious to what was occurring moments earlier.

Both Hamuko and the beanie-wearing man stare at the bowl of ramen before looking back at the chef.

"Sorry, I think I lost my appetite" the tall man slammed cash on the counter before standing up to leave.

Hamuko stared at the money and the ramen and blinked for a moment before turning to the retreating figure in a trench coat "Wait!"

"What more do you want?" the man gave her a glare, unlike the one earlier which just showed irritation this one felt more . . . enraged.

This caused the auburn-haired girl to stop in her tracks and look at the floor "Well I . . ."

"Don't worry, I won't be coming back here anytime soon" and with that, he slammed the door close.

Rio stared at her friend as she returned to the counter "Are you okay?"

"Hey missy" the chef called out to Hamuko "What you did was uncalled for, that was one of my regular customers" he shook his head before leaving for the kitchen.

Hamuko just stared at the abandoned bowl of steaming ramen.

* * *

Kikuno Saikawa was very loyal to her mistress. Being dropped off in an orphanage after her hostess mother couldn't provide for her, Kikuno had no other form of family. About a year after being abandoned she was quickly picked up by the Takeheru Kirijo not as an adoptive daughter, but as a servant for his own child Mitsuru.

Immediately she was thrust with rigorous training in order for Kikuno to properly serve her duties. Aside from the usual cooking, cleaning, dressing and other housekeeping skills she was also trained in hand-to-hand combat, driving vehicles at land, water and air, and of course how to make different kinds of "tea".

While other children found this sort of training odd and tiring Kikuno didn't really mind it that much. She was always eager to learn new things, she had a purpose in life and in a sense, she found a family. Meeting Mitsuru was probably one of, if not the highlight of her life. She remembered being shy and slightly uncomfortable when she entered the Kirijo mansion. She recalled seeing the ethereal little girl with crimson coloured hair tied into curled pigtails and a cheerful face that showed grace.

Even at the age of six, Mitsuru was a proper lady, she spoke softly but with conviction. When Mitsuru held her hand to pull her into her massive bedroom that looked like something from those storybooks she saw in stores, she didn't feel as intimidated as she should be.

"This is the first time I brought someone my age here!" Mitsuru told her eagerly.

Kikuno didn't know what to say first.

The young redhead looked at her "Is there something wrong? Am I being too pushy?"

Shaking her head the young orphan replied "Umm no . . . it's just . . . don't you feel a . . . ."

Going closer to her "Feel what?"

"Lonely?" Kikuno meekly answered. When she saw how the expression on Mitsuru's face dropped she quickly apologized "OH NO! I'm sorry!" she bowed.

"No! It's fine!" Mitsuru reassured her by holding onto her shoulders.

Kikuno looked up "Really?"

"Yeah . . ." the young heiress gave a sad smile "You're right though, about me being lonely . . ."

"Um . . ." Kikuno fisted her hands "If . . . you want . . . I can be your friend"

At this Mitsuru looked at her with surprise "Really?"

The maid-to-be nodded "Uhuh, I never had many friends too in the orphanage so . . . that's if . . . you want to . . ."

"Yes!"

"What!?" Kikuno blinked "Really"

Mitsuru took the other girls hands and held them together with her "I'd be much honoured to be your friend"

Kikuno's eyes widened, never in her dreams would she think that a girl who was literally a princess of the Kirijo empire would want . . . be honoured to be her friend. "I . . . I . . ." a determined look spread upon her face "I promise I'll be the best maid you ever had! I'll make sure to protect you!"

* * *

She dropped two pills into the dark oolong tea before serving it to Miss Mitsuru.

Once again the young heiress was late at work overlooking a few files regarding the company. Kikuno knocked on the glass door "Madam, I brought some tea"

"Come in"

The maid then silently entered the office not wanting to disturb Mitsuru in the middle of her work. She then placed the cup of tea on the weirdly shaped desk "You should take a break"

"This won't wait till tomorrow" the redhead stared intently at the file "The board will be having a meeting tomorrow"

"Don't you mean later?"

"Huh?" at this Mitsuru stared at the clock and saw that it was around past two in the morning "I must have lost track of time"

"You always do" Kikuno smiled.

Mitsuru sighed putting the file down and taking the cup "It's been quite stressful lately" she said taking a sip while leaning back against her seat.

"It's your final year of university, you should enjoy yourself" Kikuno advised.

A smile formed on the heiress' lips "I don't think most people would call their final thesis as a way of enjoying university life"

"Anything must be more fun than talking to middle-aged men acting like toddlers"

"You have a . . ." Mitsuru yawned "Point"

"I have an inquiry madam" Kikuno's expression went serious "This is regarding the . . . assassin you recently hired"

Mitsuru put her cup down "Are you uncomfortable with the arrangement?"

"I do respect your decisions madam" Kikuno quickly replied "I was just . . . surprised you actually agreed to pursue such a tactic"

The redhead smirked "What can I say; the man makes a very good argument"

This made Kikuno tense "The assassin is a male . . . and you've met him"

"He is" she closed her eyes "Though I've only conversed with him over the phone, I don't know what he looks like"

"I understand that there have been threats to your life but you need to go to extreme measures" Kikuno argued.

"I don't want to risk hurting the people around me" Mitsuru replied sitting up straight and facing the maid "You've had so much close calls already" her eyes then lowered to the maid's leg "You just recently got out of the hospital too"

At this Kikuno bit down her lip ", I was simply doing my job madam"

"I'm not saying that you're not doing a good job" Mitsuru faced Kikuno with a look of concern "I just don't want my friends to get hurt because of me"

"Madam . . ."

Mitsuru picked up her cup again and took a sip "You put sleeping pills on my tea again haven't you?"

At this Kikuno smiled "It's for your own good"

The heiress' eyes felt droopy "That's what I've been told"

* * *

"I apologize if I'm late" Mitsuru apologized to the board of directors later that day. She had underestimated the effectiveness of Kikuno's sleeping pills as she had fallen asleep for a straight nine hours. This made her around thirty minutes late for her meeting.

Ikutsuki gave the heiress a reassuring smile "Well there's no problem with that Mitsuru. I once ate a watch and it was very time consuming"

At instant groans and moans were heard throughout the boardroom.

"Let's just get into business" the oldest of the board, Okumura, stood up and pulled out a chair for the young mistress "Now please, have a seat"

The redhead curtsied at the elder "Thank you"

The meeting didn't go smoothly after that though. By the time Mitsuru left the boardroom she felt as though she had been suffocating the entire time. She realized that she had been feeling like that a lot lately ever since she took the position. She slowly made her way out of the office building, it was already lunch time and she didn't even have breakfast.

As she exited the building a black Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class was waiting for her. She let out a sigh as she entered the sedan, she pondered on when was the last time she had driven her motorcycle for a drive.

"Where to madam?" asked the voice of the driver whose face was covered by the partition.

Mitsuru absentmindedly replied "Anywhere that's quiet and serves food"

"Will do ma'am" and with that, the driver set off.

As the redhead stared into window watching shops pass by her eyes began to fall. She has thought Kikuno's sleeping pills wore off already, or maybe this was just fatigue from overexerting herself in work? Either way, the one thing she wanted to do right now was sleep. Well, it was her break maybe she could rest a bit . . .

* * *

"Well the princess has finally awoken"

Her body felt numb. Her vision was still a little hazy and her mind was trying to recall what happened before she lost consciousness.

"Here have some water"

In here she felt a hand tilt up her head and the tip of glass pressed on her lips.

"Come on, you need to recover her strength"

It was in here that she realized that her throat was dry so she decided to just follow the voice and drank up. As she drank her vision started to get clearer, it was as though she were in the middle of the fog and things were starting to clear up. She saw steel bars, a grey ceiling and circular lights.

"She's finally come to her senses it seems"

Indeed she has and she realized several things. She had been drugged and dragged into an empty warehouse. And she was seated on the cold concrete floor with her hands tied to a post. And she could not identify her kidnappers because all three of them were wearing ski-masks.

The one closest to her smirked "My, you've been quiet for a while now" while she couldn't see his face he had a very thing body-built, he was around 5'8 and had an air gun attached to his back.

She needed to stay calm, panic never gets anything done, and she might as well humour this man while she thinks of a way to escape. "I'm sorry; I'm just surprised that's all"

"I apologize for not letting you eat first," the man said, who judging from his voice was her driver awhile back "But our client wanted to see you pronto"

"I presume your client must want something from me since I'm still alive" she kept eye contact with her kidnapper.

The said man clapped "You are smart as they say you are, well not that it's any of my business, but they just told me to get you alive and well"

"So . . . are we just gonna sit here and wait then?"

"I guess so" the man shrugged "Not unless you try anything fishy . . ."

At that, Mitsuru felt a gun-barrel on the side of her head.

The masked man laughed "Don't think you can get away that easily, we may not be as fancy as the people from the Velvet Room but we're still professionals"

"So you're rogues huh" the heiress looked around and saw that there were actually more men scattered around the warehouse most of them holding guns.

"Yeah, it's kinda strange don't you think," said the man "Being a mercenary already puts you outside of the law but then the Velvet shitheads come in and now there are some stupid laws about what was in the first place a lawless act"

"You seem to hate the Velvet Room" Mitsuru commented.

In here another masked man with a more rugged voice spoke up "Like hell yeah we do, they think they're so high a mighty with their fancy suits and high morals" he spat on the ground in anger "They're just as bloodthirsty as the rest of us"

"Hey boss," said what was probably the largest man in the group; unlike the ringleader, he had a large built with his muscles peeking out of his shirt and he seemed to be around 6'4 "All this waiting is kinda boring"

The ringleader faced his subordinate "He said he'll take a while"

At this, the large man smirked "Now, since we got through all this trouble of keeping this chick alive" he the eyed Mitsuru with a dirty smile "Why don't we have some fun with her?"

"Don't you dare" Mitsuru growled and tried to untie her hands only to remember the gun pressed on her head.

The ringleader checked his watch "If the guy doesn't show in five minutes" he shrugged "I suppose we could entertain ourselves"

"You really are just dogs," Mitsuru said with venom in her tone.

The large man then kneeled down to her "Now now, why don't you just behave"

* * *

Masato Aono was about to leave the Kirijo building when he was stopped by the chairman.

"Now what's with the rush Aono" Ikutsuki pushed up his glasses "Are you part Russian?"

Aono just stared at his superior "Uhh . . ."

At this, the goateed man just let out a laugh "You must be starving as well, it is past lunch after all" he pulled the man over "Why don't we have some lunch together? Does that sound good? It's my treat"

The fidgeting businessman looked at the floor "I . . . umm don't think that's necessary"

"Oh no it's fine" Ikutsuki waved his hand "I was hoping to steal some leftovers from the party last night, but I guess my plans were foiled"

"Sir, if I say yes would you please stop with the puns?" Aono begged.

At this, the chairman had a smirk on his face "Why are my puns punishing you?"

This was going to be a long lunch meeting. "Umm, is there something you wanted to talk about?" Aono asked as they entered Ikutsuki's white Jaguar XF.

"Maybe I do," the man with the glasses said as he turned on the engine "But first, I must fill the void within my stomach, there are just too many things to juggle lately"

"I see" Aono felt his phone vibrating but he chooses to ignore the calls "Is this regarding the power plant"

"It may be one of the concerns" Ikutsuki sighed "This is the problem with conglomerates there are too many concerns, I'm starting to get worried over Mitsuru because of this"

At this Aono sneered though he hid it from the chairman "She's still a little too young to take over such a position, you could have just chosen someone from the board"

"It's still the Madam's choice on who takes over and if she chooses her granddaughter then we have no choice but to abide" Ikutsuki stopped the car at a red light.

"The Kirijo's are already dying out sooner or later someone else would take over" Aono cracked his knuckles "The Madam should know when to let go"

At this Ikutsuki gave the board member a side glance "Are you implying something Aono?"

"You should never trust cross-eyed people chairman" Aono smirked "They might be seeing something on the side"

* * *

Across the warehouse was a rice field tended by a nice elderly couple. They lived in a simple white two-story bungalow house right by the road. The couple's bedroom on the second floor had a perfect view of the warehouse across the street. So right on the top of an aged wooden bed that creaked whenever you moved and had hand sewn beddings was where Minato positioned his sniper.

"Would you like some tea mister surveyor?" asked the owner of the house Izumi who had brought up a tray of tea and tonkatsu.

Looking at his target through the telescope "I'm fine ma'am" he then turned to face her giving her a sweet smile that made him look younger than he was "Though I appreciate the hospitality madam"

"I'll just put this here on the floor" the elderly woman then muttered before closing the door "It's good to see there are still nice young men out there"

As soon as Izumi left the room Minato pressed something in his ear "Have you gotten in?"

"They're not a tough as they seem" replied Ryoji "To be honest you could have taken them all out yourself, you don't need my help"

"I was just making sure" Minato then positioned himself with on the sniper "And besides you owe me for what happened in Torshavn" he spotted around three men outside guarding the warehouse all of them wearing balaclavas covering their faces.

"Now that's saying a lot my dear friend" Ryoji let out a laugh "I see Miss Kirijo, she seems to stick out like a sore thumb with that red hair of hers . . . oh dear we better hurry"

"What's going on?"

Ryoji had a grim tone "Looks like they wanna have some fun . . . . OOOOOHHHH YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN WHAT SHE DID"

"I'll just let you do your thing then," Minato said as he took his aim hitting one in the larynx, another in one in the lungs and the last one in the liver.

At this, his accomplice chuckled "You know this is the first time I've seen you actually use guns"

"There's a reason why" Minato smirked as he saw the three guards bleed and try to call for backup "Even with a sniper I have terrible aim"

* * *

Mitsuru was struggling with her captors. One of them had managed to take off her heels and after furiously kicking and trying to at least choke the man with her legs it was no use. Of all the times she decided to wear a flowy skirt it just had to be today.

The large man whistled when he saw her black silk French knickers "What do you know she is a lady after all" he said as he held onto her legs making sure they stay spread open.

"Get your filthy hands off me!" the redhead growled.

"Nothing turns me on more than a feisty personality" the man then proceeded to lick her creamy white legs "Hmm, you are quite tasty"

In here one of the henchmen brought out his cellphone and started recording the event "Hmm wonder how many hits we could get with a Kirijo sex tape" and at that several men laughed.

Having being stressed, slightly drugged and violated the girl was now at a breaking point. So she did the only thing she could do, she banged her head against her molester.

At this, the man growled, "You little bitch" he held onto his forehead which had blood trickle down.

Due to the impact Mitsuru's vision begun to get blurry again, before she eventually lost consciousness she heard an explosion, gunfire and several groans.

* * *

The first thing she saw when she woke up was the gentle face of an elderly woman.

"Are you feeling well sweetie?" asked the woman.

Mitsuru tried to sit up but she felt nausea coming up.

"Oh no please rest, you hit your head quite hard" the woman placed a tender hand on her "You know you shouldn't be going to buildings that were ordered to be demolished"

At this Mitsuru got confused "Demolished?"

"Yes, apparently they were going to make a new farmer's market to replace the warehouse" at this the woman rubbed her chin "Though I must admit I didn't expect them to do the demolition so quickly"

"How's the young lady!" in here the sliding doors revealed an energetic man with slicked back black hair and striking blue eyes "Ah, I'm sorry," he said pressing his hands together "You see my co-worker told me that there was no one inside so we started dropping the dynamite"

The redhead got even more confused "Dynamite? Is that even . . ."

"Now don't worry we're professionals!" the man interjected "This is just an isolated incident" he then faced the elderly woman "Now if would you please leave us alone for a moment as we try to discuss . . . well legal things"

The old woman seemed compliant "Alright then" she gave one last look at Mitsuru "Now I know I shouldn't be butting in but I really do think his co-worker just did a mistake, he seems like a nice young man" and with that, she left.

There was a silence in the room.

"You know despite the weird dark bump in your head you're still quite pretty," said the blue-eyed man.

Mitsuru glared "What on earth is going on?"

At this he sighed "Now don't be so cruel to your rescuer" he said holding onto his chest as though insulted "Don't you know how hard it is to carry a woman, shot men, dodge people shooting at you and throw a grenade every once in a while?"

"That's . . . just . . . the most ridiculous thing I've heard this month" Mitsuru tried to sound nonchalant about the situation but the tone of her voice sounds more tired.

At this, the young man took a deep breath "Okay I may have exaggerated some parts" he rubbed the back of his neck "But you can't judge a man for trying to impress a lovely lady such as yourself"

Mitsuru placed a hand over her forehead a winced when she felt the bump "Looks like I'll have to come up with an excuse for this" a smile formed on her face "But I don't regret what I did"

A corner of the man's lips lifted "I gotta admit I was really impressed with what you did, not many people have the balls to do what you did"

The redhead sighed and turned her head to a side "So I presume you're from the Velvet Room"

"Ryoji Mochizuki" the young man bowed and offered his hand "Right at your service"

Mitsuru faced him with surprise "Ryoji . . . so . . . you're not my contact?"

At once the man huddled in one corner "So you don't care about me?"

"Oh no!" she shook her hands "I did not mean to sound like that"

He tossed his hair "I'm just kidding" he went back next to her "You're looking for Makoto huh? Well, he's busy cleaning up the mess we both made. I may have exaggerated parts of my story but the dynamite part was real"

"You said you tossed grenades"

"I lied it was dynamite" he then clapped his hands "Anyway while he's busy fixing that mess he told me to make sure you're fine and escort you to that drug dealer maid of yours"

She blinked "You mean Kikuno?"

"That woman has a clear obsession with sleeping pills" Ryoji gave her a concerned look "I sometimes wonder if she ever accidentally overdosed you"

She pushed away a strand of hair that was blocking her face, she needed a haircut soon "She's never done that, she's a reliable person"

"If you say so" he stood up "I suggest you take a break for a while, what you just experienced isn't something you could shake off in a day"

She sized him up "I can take care of myself"

"I'm trying not to offend you Miss Kirijo," he said giving her for once a serious look "But judging from what happened today it seems that you can't, and you definitely need Makoto to ensure you're safety"

Instead of protesting as he expected she just sighed "I really have no choice then, but can I at least stand up and walk?"

Once again the carefree smile appeared on his face "As long as you don't collapse again sure"

* * *

The moment she heard the door unlock she was sure that he was home. She debated on whether or not to get up from her bed to greet him but she decided she wasn't in the mood. She didn't even change out of her uniform and didn't even bother to eat, in fact, she had been like that for the past few days but her brother wasn't around to notice it.

Until now.

"Hey" the door opened and entered her big brother who was wearing a black dress shirt with his tie loose around his neck "You didn't eat dinner yet haven't you?"

Hamuko was lying on her bed back facing him "I did" and of course at that moment that was when her stomach chooses to growl.

"Come on" Minato waved his hand and headed for the kitchen "I got some tonkatsu and beef stir-fry"

The younger girl grumpily got out of bed and drudged her way into the dining room. It wasn't exactly a dining room as it was just a small wooden table with two chairs and a bench in front of their very black kitchen (like literally everything from the walls to the fridge is painted black). She banged her head on the wooden table and groaned.

"You didn't even bother to cook rice," Minato said putting water in a pot "Do you just order take-out when I'm gone?"

"There's a reason why I collect coupons" Hamuko lifted her head "I mean you just bought dinner from outside yourself"

"Nope," the older boy said turning off the tab "It was from a client"

Again the auburn-haired girl dropped her head to the table this time watching her brother prepare rice "You've been on a lot of business trips lately, usually you only leave the apartment twice a month"

He just replied with a shrug "I'm too good at my job apparently"

"Yeah but you're abandoning a child to fend for herself" Hamuko whined "Don't you know how dangerous it is at night"

At this Minato snorted "You're gonna be eighteen next year so I'm abandoning a lazy bum than a child"

Hamuko frowned "Now you're bullying me! That's emotional abuse"

"You're just emotionally incapacitated" Minato then sat across the dining table waiting for the rice to cook "So what's your problem?" he asked leaning against the table his head resting on his palm.

At this, the girl sat up straight "Problem? What are you talking about?"

Keeping a passive face "So there is a problem"

"You're just being judgmental!" she countered and pointed an accusatory finger at him.

"Did you offend someone or something?"

This made the girl gape for a moment, she knew he smart but why was he so on point today? "I . . . uh . . . you know what!" she slammed her palms on the table and stood up "You need to get yourself a girlfriend! You spend too much time with me that you're making up big stuff about the little things"

He cocked his head "Didn't you just complain about me abandoning you a few minutes ago?"

"I'm a growing girl" she lifted her head up "I need to gain independence and you need to give me space and allow me to make my own mistakes"

"I don't think I can afford you burning the apartment" he deadpanned "You'll even get innocent bystanders involved"

She leered at him "I can cook instant noodles you know!"

"I pity the guy who ends up marrying you" Minato lifted his head "He's gonna get malnourished kids because the only thing his useless wife can cook is instant noodles"

"SHUT UP!" Hamuko sat down, crossed her arms and pouted.

At that, the rice cooker dinged and Minato stood up to get the rice.

The girl looked at him at the corner of her eye "You know I was serious about you having to get a girlfriend, I mean you've got money to spend and a lot of girls seem to find you attractive for some reason"

"If I do that I'll probably never come home and you'll just starve," the blunet said placing the bowl of rice, tonkatsu and stir-fry on the table.

"I'm not that hopeless," Hamuko said filling her bowl with food "Hey . . . do you think . . . I'm too nosy"

"Yes"

She glared at him "You didn't even hesitate when you replied"

"Cause its true" Minato said sitting down.

At this Hamuko stared at her bowl "Is that so . . ."

The blue-haired boy stared at his sister "Did you accidentally eavesdrop or something?"

"What something are you implying?!"

"Why must everything I say have to be implications of some sort?"

"I don't know? you're kinda nosy yourself!"

"At least I didn't get caught"

"Damn it" Hamuko then proceeded to stop talking and just consume her mouth with food, her stomach's needs have been ignored long enough.

Minato just chuckled at his sister's actions, he couldn't help it was too easy to annoy her. As he started eating himself he heard his cell phone ringing from his messenger bag in the living room. Still carrying his bowl he headed for the living room to answer his phone "Yuki" he replied.

"Umm . . . Yuki-san" it was Kirijo. "I hope I'm not disturbing you or anything"

"I'm having dinner"

"Oh . . . if that's the case another time then . . ."

In here Minato noticed from the window an unfamiliar car parked across the street from his apartment "Did Ryoji tell you my address?"

For a moment there was silence before a reply "Yes . . . I'm sorry but I was quite persistent on . . ."

"Do you want me to come down there or do you want to come up here?"

* * *

 **I have an exam tomorrow but I decided to finish this instead.**

 **Thanks to Asdr, darkavenger619, badasshero89, Shiranai Atsune and that1filipino for following or adding this story to your favorites.**

 **I think it should be fair that Minato/Makoto has bad aiming with guns since he's capable of using every other weapon, but then again maybe he should be better?**

 **Tell me what you think in a review.**


	4. Juillet

The best way to describe the atmosphere inside the Arisato residence was . . . slightly damp. Hamuko was in the living room but she still felt as though she were right there at the dinner table between her older brother and that strange red-haired woman.

She didn't really have a brother complex as far as she was concerned. It can't be helped her brother practically raised her so of course, she grew to be quite attached to him. And she was very aware of the fact that the reason Minato didn't have a girlfriend during high school was that she would glare at any girl who dares look at her big brother in a different way.

That doesn't mean she doesn't worry about her brother though. Sure he's still quite young but as far as she could tell he has never shown interest in women. It got to a point where she wondered if he was perhaps gay (in which he replied with a shrug so there might be a possibility). This made her worry, he might be able to survive on his own and take good care of himself, he has a stable job (though she isn't exactly sure what 'business' he does) he can do basic household chores (though you had to drag him out of bed to make him do so) and he seemed fine living alone.

Now that was what scared Hamuko. She knows that eventually, she'll have to leave the nest; eventually, she'll have to learn to live independently and not rely on her big brother all the time. So what happens when she does? Is he still gonna work for that 'company'? Would he just stay home knowing he doesn't have another mouth to feed or tuition to pay? Would he just live his entire life in solitude and wind up as an old man who died in his sleep while sitting on his rocking chair whose body would be found out two weeks later after the landlord wondered where the smell was coming from?

"HELL NO!" Hamuko screamed out loud all of a sudden.

There was a silence that followed, the only noise being some pop song from an idol girl group playing on the TV.

"Oi!" she heard the voice of her older brother, "I told you no playing VR when we have guests in the house!"

It was only here that Hamuko realized she was standing up "You never said anything like that!" she yelled back "And we don't have VR stuff!"

There was a pause "We don't? Huh, I thought we did . . ."

The auburn haired girl just sighed and collapsed on the sofa "He's useless" she muttered.

It was in here she heard another voice, it was feminine and sounded quite sophisticated "I don't want to take up too much of your time . . ." it was probably the lady who came by the door.

"It's fine Miss Kirijo just ignore the parasite that currently dwells in my living space"

Her brother seriously can get into her nerves sometimes.

"Kirijo . . ." Hamuko then brought out her phone from her skirt pocket (she still hadn't changed from her uniform) and searched for Kirijo ". . . wait . . . WHAT!?" again she stood up and faced the wall from where the dining room was "That can't be . . . maybe it's a coincidence?" she then snuck out from the living room and tiptoed to the dining room. She as stealthily as possible peeped into the room, she let out an inner groan when she saw that her brother had a cigarette in his hand and he seemed to have smoked two judging from the ashtray.

The woman in front of him didn't seem to mind or at least she was hiding her discomfort, either way, the lady looked quite professional. Hamuko looked at the picture she got from some random news site and compared the two women "Yup no mistaking . . . it's Mitsuru Kirijo . . ."

"Oh, I'm sorry for interrupting your dinner"

Hamuko froze for a moment before looking up; indeed the woman was looking right at her.

"You must be Ma . . . the younger sister" despite the tiny stutter the woman still looked very professional and . . . motherly?

Hamuko still remained quiet.

At this, her older brother faced her "You could just nod your head or something"

That made the auburn-haired girl snap back "Umm . . . onii-chan . . . can we talk for a moment?"

"I'm sorta busy," he said putting the cigarette in his mouth.

"Its fine" the woman stood up and it this Hamuko's eyes bulged out. The woman had curves in all the right place places and it made the young high school student feeling slightly insecure, damn this woman. "I . . . think I've already told you all that I needed to say"

The blue-haired young man shoved his hands in his pockets and stood up "I see you out then" he took out the cigarette from his mouth and smashed it on the ashtray.

"I don't think that's necessary," Mitsuru said as she put on her coat.

"It's technically my job to do so" Minato shrugged as he exited the room "Also . . ." he turned to Hamuko and poked her forehead "Next time you do that don't come off as stalkerish it freaks people out"

Hamuko covered her forehead with her palms "That hurt you know!"

"There are worse things in life" the older boy headed for the door with Miss Kirijo.

The older woman gave Hamuko an apologetic look "I'm really sorry for intruding" she said before leaving.

Hamuko crossed her arms "Why do I have a feeling I'll be seeing her a lot more"

* * *

"I apologize for my sister's behaviour," he said as soon as they stepped in the elevator "She's still in high school and they tend to do weird things"

Mitsuru gave him a confused look before giggling "Well she's still young"

"That's true" he sighed.

The redhead had a melancholy look on her face "Though, it must be nice having a sibling" she wondered "Having someone grow up with you like that"

Minato chuckled "It's not as rosy as you think, half the time you're just trying to annoy the other to death"

"I see" Mitsuru smiled.

A silence then passed as the elevator slowly descended "Must be lonely being an only child though" Minato suddenly spoke.

"That's quite true" the redhead played with her hair "I guess that's why my father decided to give me a personal maid"

"You're even fancier than I thought"

Again she chuckled "I guess you're right, I've been too sheltered that I don't know how half the world works"

Minato shrugged "Don't beat yourself up for it, most people don't even reach a quarter in understanding" he was looking at the elevator doors but he kept stealing glances at the woman beside him.

"You know" Mitsuru placed a finger on her lips "It might seem weird but . . . I pictured you differently in my head"

This made him raise a brow "What did you expect? Some Russian guy with prison tattoos?"

"Nothing of that sorts" the heiress waved her hand "Well . . . maybe I expected you to be slightly older and more . . . umm . . ."

Minato took a deep breath "It's the blue hair isn't it?"

Mitsuru blushed "Well . . . it does make you stand out . . ."

"Its fine I get that a lot" he placed his hands behind his head as he stared at the floor numbers. "Though seeing as you've met Elizabeth you should know that being discrete isn't really a concern in our organization"

"You're right about that" Mitsuru eyes were filled with amusement as she recalled meeting the strange woman "She's quite odd to be working in public relations"

Minato shrugged "I think the reason why our boss put her in that position was that clients tend to get thrown off by her compared to her older sister who's more formal"

In here the elevator dinged signalling that they have reached their destination and a frown appeared on Mitsuru's face when the doors opened "Well I guess this is it" she looked at the blue-haired man who seemed to be unfazed. "Thank you for your time," she said stepping out of the elevator.

"No problem Miss Kirijo" for some reason Mitsuru felt a pang when he suddenly addressed her formally. She also noticed that his earlier casual stance was now gone. She had seen his posture before and it was usually when her bodyguards were on standby. "I hope you have a safe trip" he nodded his head.

"Yes, goodnight then mister Yuki" she felt as though she should say something else but she couldn't wrap around her head on what it was.

"Goodnight Miss Kirijo," he said as the doors started to close.

On impulse, the girl put a hand between the closing doors to open the elevator again.

This caused him to lift an eyebrow "Is . . . there something else... .?"

"Is there someone in this building who's watching me?" Mitsuru asked immediately, it seemed strange that she deemed her security as a second priority but at least she had a topic.

"I don't think you should worry about that," he said with a poker face.

"Is . . . that so . . ." what was wrong with her? Why was a grown woman like her acting like some love-struck teenager by trying to keep talking with a guy she may or may not have a tiny bit of attraction for?

"Umm . . ." the blue-haired man pressed the button to keep the doors open "Do you have anything else to say?"

Mitsuru took back her hand and stepped back "I . . . I don't, my apologies for my . . . intrusion" she said looking away trying to hide her tiny blush of embarrassment.

Minato noticed this and gave her an amused smile "I guess I'll be seeing you soon then Miss Kirjo" unlike earlier he said her name in a teasing manner that it actually made her blush harder.

The elevator doors closed and the heiress was frozen for a moment before she smacked herself in the forehead "Mitsuru Kirijo what are you doing?!" she sighed "Grandmother will excommunicate me if she finds out how I acted earlier"

As she walked towards her car (which was driven by Kikuno so she was sure she was safe), she couldn't help but ponder on her behaviour. She had planned to formally thank the man for his services and to discuss other matters regarding . . . more serious matters like the 'hit list' which she still hadn't come around to even writing down.

What she didn't expect though was the fact that not only was their conversation mostly pleasant (she wasn't exactly a fan of smokers) but she had actually enjoyed his company. It was hard to believe that a guy like him had probably sent countless men to the grave and if what she heard from Elizabeth was true, in a brutal fashion.

He looked so young yet he already had an air of maturity that it seemed quite familiar. Is this what colleagues see when they looked at her?

"Is everything alright madam?" Kikuno asked when Mitsuru entered the car.

Mitsuru closed her eyes "I . . . think so . . ." she then smiled "Maybe . . ."

"Did something good happen?" Kikuno asked curiously.

"Can I ask you a question?" Mitsuru opened her eyes.

The maid nodded her head.

"How do you know . . . when you're . . . attracted to someone?"

* * *

Minato watched as the black Nissan Infiniti drive off from one of his neighbor's apartment.

She was a … strange one. At first, he felt forced to go along with Elizabeth's requests on calling the Kirijo heiress and trying to convince her to sign the contract. While she did eventually sign the contract she hadn't had any requests sent to him to guard or kill someone for her, until this week.

He started to wonder why a woman who was hesitant on taking the lives of other ask for someone like him for services, then again she was a Kirijo, she wasn't the first of the family to be a client. So he assumed she must have been pressured due to her position and for the protection of her employees.

"For an ice queen, you've got quite a soft spot Miss Kirijo" he did a small smile before he faced the man he had just dealt with a few minutes ago.

In the centre of the living room lying face down on the black metallic floor was a man bleeding to death (or already dead). He was around 5'8 in height, tanned, muscular and had very thick curly hair. He wore a navy striped short sleeved shirt, beige cotton chinos and a pair of white Nike Air Max.

Minato had stabbed the man three times from behind, broke his neck and damaged the guy's rib cage with a jumping push kick.

Upon closer inspection, he noticed that the guy was probably the Brazilian man who was with him on the bus from Sendai. Minato didn't know if the man was after him or Kirijo but he was definitely after someone seeing as he barged into an unoccupied apartment right below his and installed a sniper in the living room.

The blue-haired assassin brought out his phone and called a number "Hello? Yeah, Liz, I was wondering if you could do a clean-up for me? It's in my apartment building, the room below it. Thank you, Liz" after putting the phone back in his pocket he went over to the body and pulled out the butcher's knife from the dead body and washed off the blood in the kitchen sink while waiting for the clean-up crew.

/

Once again Mitsuru was having an incredibly hard time sleeping.

She had always been like this, which was why Kikuno had made it a habit to put sleeping pills into her drinks. Recently though the maid had refrained from doing so after what had happened the previous month. This has caused Kikuno to start looking up other methods to put her mistress to sleep, and so far they've become more and more foreign and ancient, to say the least.

Right now there were three or four humidifiers that were giving off different scents that were said to 'spread sleeping molecules in the air', but in all honesty, Mitsuru was getting less sleep than more. So instead she rose up from the bed and opened the glass doors to the veranda to let some actual fresh air in.

She took in a deep breath "Now that's much better" she then headed for her white bookshelf that was filled with what looked like several hardbound books and documents though, in reality, they were actually binders.

Mitsuru took one binder off the shelf and opened it to reveal several issues of Green Lantern still in mint condition stored in plastic covers. The redhead pulled out one copy out the slides before putting back the binder in place.

Despite looking and acting like a proper girl who only read really philosophical and foreign novels and surrounds herself in 'culture' Mitsuru was actually a closet comic book fan. She didn't exactly know where her fascination with reading stories about people wearing tights fighting against off-beat bad guys but she always got a kick out them. While she did sometimes read Wolverine and Black Panther she was a DC fan through and through.

Her grandmother, on the other hand, seemed to be displeased with her granddaughter's hobby that she would discourage her collection and force her to do something more feminine like doing Ikebana or ballet lessons. This leads the young girl to hide her growing comic stash with the binders and trying to control herself whenever she heard some other student at school talking about who was the better Robin or theories about Flashpoint.

But since her grandmother was currently incapacitated and stuck in the confines of the family house in Shizuoka there was no way she's be lecturing her now.

Stepping out into the veranda and making herself comfortable in a lounge chair she opened her copy of Green Lantern Chronicles Vol. 1. It was currently four in the morning and in a few moments the sun would be rising. It was quite cold out in the veranda and the heiress was only wearing a white chemise and a grey laced robe while her hair was done in a high ponytail with bits of her hair falling into the sides of her face.

It was an incredibly quiet morning in her apartment that only sounds heard was the occasional barking dog and faint sounds of exercise music from a nearby park. She was on the third page when she felt a shiver and realized that she was significantly underdressed.

"What on Earth am I doing?" Mitsuru chuckled to herself "Here I am completely vulnerable and out in the open" she stood up from the lounge chair, entered her room and closed the door. "Am I having some sort of death wish?" she crossed her arms "After all the trouble Mr Yuki had to keep me alive I offer myself up to assassins on a silver platter" she sighed "This won't do"

She placed the Green Lantern comic on the nightstand and headed for her closet for a change of clothes. She now wore a black sleeveless hoodie, black cycling shorts, a white sports bra and a pair of black Adidas Terrex hiking boots.

After inspecting herself in the mirror she nodded to herself "I've been stuck in the office for too long, I need to stretch my muscles and check on my form"

She then jogged out of her bedroom, her ponytail swinging as she moves, and headed for the kitchen to prepare herself a shake before she starts her workout. On her way down Kikuno stepped out of her room and noticed the mistress.

"Madam you're up quite early today" the maid was still dressed in her white nightgown with puffy sleeves and length which reached till the floor.

Mitsuru greeted her with a smile "I just thought I could start training again, it's been awhile since I held my rapier"

"Is that so . . ." Kikuno then jumped as if she just remembered something "Oh yes, I apologize madam but last night I received a call from Shizuoka"

At this Mitsuru's body froze "Has . . . something happened?"

Kikuno's lips formed a very straight line "Madam Kiyo would like a visit from you"

"Is it urgent?"

The maid just nodded "At your most convenient time"

Gone was Mitsuru's earlier enthusiasm, now the only thing she felt was . . . dread "Is there a reason as to why she wanted to see me?"

"She didn't specify . . ." Kikuno bit her lip "But perhaps it may have something to do with . . ."

The redhead sighed "Mr Yuki"

"It's only a gut feeling madam" Kikuno stated "Perhaps it's of something else entirely"

A frown spread across Mitsuru's features "Anything could be bad news if it comes from her mouth" she shook her head "I know it's rude for me to speak like that of elders but . . . I just can't help but feel uncomfortable under her presence"

"I completely understand you" Kikuno tightened her grip on her hands "She gives off a . . . unpleasant aura"

Mitsuru faced the window and noticed that finally, the sun was beginning to rise signalling the start of a new day "I guess I'll have to visit her . . ."

* * *

"You seem quite displeased so early in the morning"

Aono just groaned as he bit into his dark chocolate banana muffins. He was currently in some bakery near Naganaki Shrine meeting up with a certain man.

After grumpily finishing his muffins Aono wiped his mouth with a napkin "You promised me that she would be dead last month, yet that damn brat came back to the office yesterday"

Across him was a young man with dark blue hair slicked back to the right "You failed to inform us that she's in contact with the Velvet Room, we thought she just hired some random thug on the side"

"The Velvet Room?" the businessman nearly dropped his second muffin "Who the hell are those people?!

The young man looked at him in disdain "A group of hypocrites"

"How can twelve men lose to just two people!?" Aono pounded his fist on the table earning a couple of looks from a few customers.

"You have to understand the gravity of your situation Mr Aono," the young man told him calmly "The fact that our men were cornered by two members of the Velvet Room means Kirijo isn't joking around. And knowing how that group operates they're probably on your tail right now"

This made the businessman sweat "What . . . are you saying? I had no involvement!"

"I admit Mr Aono we were both at fault here, we had simply underestimated our opponent" the man adjusted his orange-tinted glasses "We didn't really take you request that seriously so we just took a random team of mercenaries and didn't even think too much about the plan"

At this Aono's blood was boiling "You . . . didn't take my request seriously!?"

"We had other things to worry about" at this, the young man did a smirk "But don't worry, now we know we're up against Velvet Room mercenaries things have certainly taken our interest"

"What . . . about . . . my involvement?" Aono asked with uncertainty.

"Don't worry" the young man stood up taking with him a very large steel briefcase "That is not of your concern anymore"

* * *

Hamuko Arisato was a very active student. She was a member of the student council, played in the school's tennis team and partakes in several other extra-curricular affairs; to top it all up she was also an honour student. Basically, she was one of the most popular students in the entire student body and it was not surprising if she had some fan-club dedicated to her.

When she enrolled in Gekkoukan Hamuko wanted to reinvent her image. She to start fresh and become a fully functional teenage girl. She wanted to move on from everything that happened in her childhood and be the person she envisioned herself to be, and so far she had been successful in every aspect.

So why wasn't she happy? Was there something wrong with her? Is she having some sort of post-traumatic stress or something? Did she accidentally eat spoiled tofu by mistake again?

"Hamuko-chan!" the auburn-haired girl woke up from her reverie when she was face-to-face with a girl of her age who had teal-blue coloured hair.

"Oh sorry Fuuka" the younger Arisato put on a fake smile "I kinda spaced out"

The girl gave her a concerned look "I thought your brother came back, are you still eating convenient store meals?"

"Oh he's back" Hamuko rolled her eyes "He's probably still in bed right now"

Fuuka decided not to question her friend any further "So . . . as I was saying, we finally have an advisor for our cooking club"

"Cooking club?" Hamuko gave her a confused look.

"Yes," Fuuka said cheerfully "The school finally hired a new home economics teacher and he's going to be our cooking club advisor"

"Wow, that's . . . official" the auburn-haired girl blinked "I mean . . . I thought we were disbanded or something"

"I was surprised as well" Fuuka clapped her hands gleefully "But out of nowhere new members started to sign up and they were enough for us to apply to the school to be an official club"

Hamuko stood up enthusiastically "That's great! Looks like we can finally get some decent lessons and sooner or later my brother will be useless to me!"

"Umm . . . but doesn't he still pay for your rent and tuition?" Fuuka asked.

Hamuko gave her a look "Baby-steps my dear Fuuka, baby steps" and with that, she grabbed the shorter girl by the hand "Come on! I wanna see who this new teacher is"

"Wait!" Fuuka was trying to keep up with her friend "Don't you have tennis practice?"

"The rest of the members are probably hanging out with their boyfriend that they formed a harem around or something"

"But what about Rika?!"

This made Hamuko stop on her heels "OH RIGHT!" she faced the other girl "What do I do? I mean it's not like the tennis team would listen to me, what do I do threaten them using Hidetoshi or something?"

"I uh . . . dunno really"

"Urgh . . . why am I involved in so many clubs?" Hamuko smacked herself in the forehead "Wasn't there a club limit or something?"

"Hey you two no screaming we're in the middle of a class" yelled out a teacher from a nearby classroom.

Hamuko turned to the voice "What do you mean the middle of a class it's after school . . . .ahhhh?" her tirade was stopped when she turned to see who the teacher was.

And it seemed the teacher in turn recognized who she was "It's you again"

Fuuka looked at her panicked stricken friend than to the tall scary looking man wearing an apron "Umm . . . do you two know each other?"

"What no?!" Hamuko did a really fake laugh and fanned her hand over her face "He just . . . probably mistook me for someone else haha, yeah you know we should be leaving, sorry for disturbing you sir" she bowed then forced Fuuka to bow with her even though she did nothing wrong in the first place "Now now, let's head over to the cooking club!"

At this the tall man blinked "Did you say cooking club?" he then frowned "Don't tell me you're members as well"

Fuuka stood up straight "Are . . . you perhaps the new . . . home economics teacher?"

"I am" he then smirked as he saw the color fade from Hamuko's face "So you better show me some respect and call me Arakagi-sensei"

* * *

Being in the line of work that he has you'd think that Minato would have lost his conscience a long time ago.

Over the years that he's been performing countless murders not once had he felt guilt or remorse. Whenever he slit someone's neck, whenever he stabbed his victims or whenever he stares into the eyes of a man whose life fades away. Instead what the man felt was an adrenaline rush.

Every time he sees blood. Every time he takes out a sword. He can help but feel his blood pumping when taking down an army of guards. The exhilarating feeling of fighting for his life. The feeling of leaving the entire room covered in carnage and blood. And at some point even the times when his victims beg for mercy he couldn't help but smile when he wipes them away from existence in one blow.

"You look like a man who has Death inside you"

He remembered when he first entered the organization and that was the first thing Igor said to him. He didn't really know what to make of the comment at first. Back then it was just a way to pay the bills and make sure that he and Hamuko don't get separated by social services. But over the years though it had been some sort of game that he wishes he would never stop playing.

And it was that that scared him.

He knew he was a walking death wish and he knew that one of these days his love for bloodlust would eventually kill him. He knew that sooner or later his sister would hear news about her big brother's body found in the sewers or at least he hopes they'll ever let her know he's dead.

The only thing that keeps him human is his sister. She was the only person he had. The love of his life (Not the incest kind mind you). You get the idea. He knew that she was growing up fast and that eventually she'll fall in love and have a family of her own.

He, on the other hand, had no future and he's pretty much accepted the fact.

Right now he was in some beach resort in Dominica. He has dressed in a Paul Smith classic fit navy wool suit with pink cashmere underneath and a pair of tobacco suede John Lobb oxfords as he roamed around the almost deserted beach. It was around one in the morning and there was a full moon out.

"Where the hell is that old man," Minato said as he continued to scan the beach for a moment he thought if he was on the wrong side of the island, it was then heard the sound of a woman laughing that he stopped walking.

Emilio Zakchaios, a Greek entrepreneur known for selling smuggled cars and other shady ventures. Around 5'7 in height, was quite built, had a tattoo of the sun on the left side of his chest and bald. The man was currently lounging on a tiny cabana with two women; one was a local another probably Italian.

Wasting no time Minato approached the Greek's little paradise and as he came closer the women stopped laughing to stare at him and judging from their looks they seemed quite interested.

This forced Zakchaios to look at him "Is there something I can help you with?" he asked in his heavily accented English.

The blue-haired young man gave a charming smile to the girls "If you mind ladies" he said also in English "I'd like to speak with Emilio alone"

"And who are you supposed to be?" the Greek eyed him up and down "That you come here and disturb my fine time with these fine ladies?"

Shoving his hands on his pockets "I'm here representing your wife"

At this, the two girls turned to Emilio with mixed confusion and discuss.

Emilio grinned "I guess this is a serious matter" he then signalled the women to leave "Come on girls time to go"

The two girls stood up from his lap and turned to leave but before doing so they made sure to at least rub Minato in some way.

As soon as the girls were gone Emilio stood up, dressed in only Valentino camouflaged swim shorts and sized him up "So Asian boy" he poked his chest "What do you mean you're representing my wife?"

Minato looked at the finger "Nice fingernails, do you nail file them in your spare time?"

This caused the Greek to growl "Don't you fucking change the topic, what do you want?"

"Nothing much" Minato dropped his smile "Maybe rip that shit of a tattoo you have on your chest?"

"That's it" Emilio snapped his fingers and out of nowhere five men dressed in Hawaiian shirts and white shorts came out ready to pummel the tiny Asian dude in a suit. "Who are you and what are you doing with my wife? Are you sleeping with her or something?"

At this Minato snorted "Please, your wife may be a looker but I don't go for blondes" he then smirked "And from what she tells me she ain't too happy with your little 'package' down there if you know what I mean"

"YOU LITTLE" Emilio then turned to his guards "Go get this little squinted eyed twink!"

At that one guard grabbed Minato by the shoulder and quickly tossed him making him land face first into the sandy ground.

"Huh, not so tough now aren't we?" chuckled one of the guards as he kicked the fallen man in the stomach.

The blunet coughed out sand that got into his mouth as he got repeatedly kicked by the guard forcing himself into a fetal position. Emilio, on the other hand, went back to his seat and watched the beating as another guard poured him a glass of puncheon rum.

After a few kicks, the guard eventually stopped and leaned over to the Asian "You learned your lesson yet boy?"

Looking at the guard in the eye Minato wheezed out "Nope" and with that grabbing a seashell that he picked up from falling down he stabbed pointed object right into the guard's left socket.

Immediately the guard screamed out in pain as he tried to remove the spear shaped seashell out of his eye as he fell to the ground.

"You're gonna pay for that!" another guard came over and was about to kick him but the blue-haired man was quick with another seashell and stabbed him in the leg as well.

With the two guards screaming from seashell attacks Emilio turned to the three remaining guards "Don't you people have any guns!? Shoot him!"

"Umm . . . boss" one of the men said "We kinda don't use guns"

"WHAT!?" the Greek yelped in disbelief. "What kind of guards doesn't use a gun?!"

"There's usually not that much violence around these parts sir" another guard replied "So we never had the need for one"

While in the midst of their argument the two sea shell struck guards tried to get back at the blue-haired Asian. Despite being hit on his left leg the guard still managed to stand up and tried to kick Minato who was still on the ground. But before his foot could hit the blue-haired man grabbed the guard's foot and twisted it. As the guard yelped in pain the Asian stood up and wiped off the sand that was on his face "That didn't go as planned" he muttered.

And before the remaining two could react Minato gave a straight punch right in the face to one guard then turning around to the other guard behind him and gave one behind him a left body hook punch.

The last guard was the one serving Emilio and unlike the others, he was quite big a muscular, a former Muay Thai fighter he seemed very familiar to hand to hand combat.

"Take care of him" Emilio growled before taking his drink in one shot and fleeing.

The guard nodded and rocked his head from left to right before starting in a fighting stance, Minato did the same.

The two fighters circled around each other sizing up one another trying to figure out who would attack first. After a few moments, it was Minato who started off with a straight kick using his front lead leg to try and kick his opponents face. The guard anticipated this and protected his face by crossing his arms over his face to divert the impact. Minato tried another attack this time using an axe kick only this time the big guy grabbed his foot instead of blocking it. And judging from the smile on the big guy's face he was probably planning on throwing him.

Which he did, he twirled the blue-haired man around before tossing him into the mini-bar at the cabana making him crash into a couple of bottles.

Minato pulled himself up using the bar as support "Okay, not gonna play by the rules this time"

The large man approached the man cracking his knuckles "Amuse me"

Grabbing a bottle of vodka Minato smashed it right into his opponent's head causing pieces of glass to spill out. Despite the tiny scars on his head, the guard didn't flinch and in retaliation did a step up kick. Minato moved fast by side-stepping to dodge the kick and using the other half of the vodka bottle stabbed the man's foot.

Flinching in pain the guard tried to attack him with a rear teep using his other leg but instead of hitting the Asian in the chest Minato grabbed his opponent's leg and flipped him. Once the guard crashed into the floor Minato pulled out the glass shards from the leg and stabbed the guard from the back of his neck making sure it went through and appeared on the other side. While the guard choked in his blood Minato grabbed other pieces of glass shards and poked on both sides of the man's ears and on his eyeballs as well.

* * *

"I apologize for my tardiness" Ikutsuki smiled as he took his seat "I was going to look for my missing watch, but I could never find the time"

Inspector Ryotaro Dojima just stared at the chairman with a face that obviously was not amused.

At this the glasses man laughed nervously "Well then . . . would you like to take the first order?"

"A cup of coffee would do" the detective said taking of his coat.

"But officer its lunch time" Ikutsuki clapped his hands "You can't go on with an investigation on an empty stomach"

"It's better to show up to a crime scene with nothing to barf out when you see the body" Dojima said in a deadpan manner.

Ikutsuki twitched "The joys of being a policeman I see"

"Don't worry I won't take long" he took out a pack of cigarettes "You might is I take a smoke?"

Waving his hand "No, I don't mind at all. Now tell me, how's the investigation going?"

Lighting his cigarette "The Kirijo's have a lot of enemies so it may have been a bit difficult to draft a suspect list, though from what we can tell from our investigation it seems to be an inside job"

"So do you have a suspect list?" Ikutsuki rested his head on his folded hands.

"We're still confirming them" Dojima released a puff of smoke "And there's something else I'm going to tell you"

"What is that?"

At this the inspector sighed "Since we've been having more dead ends than results the chief decided to get a little outside help regarding the investigation"

The chairman raised a brow "You allow that?"

"Not really" Dojima grumbled "But some people just can't deny assistance from the Shirogane's"

* * *

By the time Emilio arrived at the front desk he realized that it was empty. While he was aware that it was really early in the morning he had expected at least one person still sitting at the desk. Panting he immediately waddled over to the telephone that was on the front desk table. As he approached the table however he realized that indeed there was someone who was stationed by the desk.

On the floor behind the desk floating in the pool of his own blood was the receptionist.

"That . . ." he quickly turned to the door in a panic wondering if that weird Asian with blue hair was still tailing him. Quickly he hid behind the desk and grabbed the phone with him. Crouching on the floor with a dead body beside him Emilio dialled a certain number but as soon as he placed the phone on his ear he felt something very sharp on his head.

The Greek man gulped and looked up to see that crazy Asian man.

" _Kalinihta_ " the blue-haired man said before he saw red.

* * *

 **I apologize for the delay. Graduating thesis happened. And this is the first time I've written a full on fight scene so I'm sorry if it's crappy.**

 **Thank you to everyone who followed and added this story into their favorites**


	5. Août

Storms had been ranging in Kōchi for the past week which caused the province to fall into a state of calamity with millions worth of agricultural crops destroys, streets flooded, house washed away or destroy and several roads blocked making it hard for citizens to have access to water, food and electricity for a few days.

Some towns were severely damaged that the only way for people to get needed supplies were from foundations and other government social workers. Among the foundations that came to the small town was Kirijo Foundation.

Which was why right now dressed up in a black raincoat and worker boots was Mitsuru Kirijo herself distributing relief goods.

"It's quite an honour to have you yourself assist us in relief operations" exclaimed the very short mayor (he was around 4'7) with greying hair, Mr Asada.

Mitsuru bowed to the elder "Oh no need for that Asada-san. It's a duty and privilege to assist you here"

They were currently in the town hall which served in the meantime as an evacuation centre, the whole morning Mitsuru was serving hot meals to the evacuees and right now were having their lunch in the mayor's office.

Due to the lack of resources, the Kirijo heir was partaking in a cup of instant ramen and a bottle of her own company's water, in which if she were to be truly honest never even tasted despite the fact her office building was stocked with it.

"Rarely do you see corporate heads help out the community" the elderly mayor took a sip of water "Usually if they do it's to look pretty for the upcoming elections"

Despite eating shrimp flavoured cup noodles Mitsuru made it look like she was eating Italian pasta "I assure you, Mayor, I have no ulterior motives" she wiped her mouth with a napkin "I just happened to be nearby inspected the power plant when this happened"

"Ah yes," Mr Asada nodded "So are you really going to close down the plant?"

Her eyes narrowed "I believe the Prime Minister ordered a shutdown didn't he?"

"He did but they also said that if given the proper permits and documents then you may continue the operation" Mr Asada bobbed his head "While it may seem difficult to do that doesn't mean it's impossible"

"Are you trying to convince me to forgo the closing of the plant?" Mitsuru stared at the man with a look that always gave her former Student Council members and company employees the shivers.

And it seemed Mr Asada wasn't immune to this look as he proceeded to sweat from her gaze "Umm . . . ma'am . . . I'm not trying to be rude or anything but . . ." he coughed "But the people from this town and other neighbouring towns seek employment from the power plant, if you were to shut it down then that would leave lots of people here jobless"

"We will be assisting the displaced employees by transferring them into other divisions within our company" her lips formed a fine line "I will assure you that no one will come out jobless, we're just following safety and protocol to avoid any accidents like what happened during the last earthquake"

The mayor sighed "I suppose, but if correct me if I'm wrong will your transfer of employees result into some of them leaving Kōchi for Tokyo for example"

"That is inevitable" Mitsuru folded her arms.

"You do realize that there might be men and women who wouldn't want to leave their families behind?"

"I'm still discussing this with the board but we will try to accommodate the employee's family in case a transfer is needed," Mitsuru said trying to assure the doubtful mayor.

The man just nodded "I apologize for questioning you; it's just that there were a lot of villagers who got scared when the government announced the closing of all plants"

She just nodded "I understand your concern for your people, and I respect that"

"I just hope you know what you're doing" as the mayor stood up Mitsuru gave a look "I'm not saying you're not qualified" he waved his hands "I'm just saying that while you may have pure intentions those working around you might not have the same vision you have in mind"

Mitsuru lowered her head "I'll keep that in mind"

"With that said" the tiny man stretched out his arms and shakes his hips in which a loud crack sound was made.

This made the heiress stand up in concern "Asada-san are you alright?"

"Ohh, nothing to worry here child," Asada said with a smile while holding onto his hip "This is nothing, now let's go we have work to do," he said walking towards the door with his hand still on his hip.

Mitsuru went over to him "You don't need to push yourself too hard"

In here the door opened by a young man who looked like Mr Asada's secretary "Sir there seems to be a commotion outside of the evacuation camp"

"Hmm . . ." Asada adjusted his hip in which another crack was heard which made both young people wince. "What sort of commotion?"

The secretary sniffled "There are a group of protesters rallying outside"

"Protesters?" Mitsuru inquired.

This made Asada scrunch up his face "Not those brats again"

"Again?"

The mayor sighed "Make sure they don't cause any trouble for the other evacuees, there are a couple of sick kids there and a pregnant woman or two still in the medical tent"

In here Mitsuru went over to the window, they were currently on the second floor of the town hall and from there she could see a small group rallying downstairs. Several of them holding placards and homemade signs with the words 'SCREW KIRIJO', 'STOP POWERPLANT CLOSE', 'GIVE BACK LAND TO THE PEOPLE' and 'KIRIJO CORP. ARE FASCISTS'.

She couldn't hear exactly what they were saying but judging from the fact that they had her picture crossed out meant that whatever they were telling the people weren't good things about her.

"So this happens often?" Mitsuru calmly asked the mayor.

"Not really" Mr Asada replied "In fact, this is the second time they came here if I recall"

That was when Kikuno came busting through the door pushing Mr Asada's secretary in the process "Ma'am, I think we need to leave"

"That's not necessary," Mitsuru told her maid "They're just protesters they're not doing any harm"

"I beg to differ" in here Kikuno brought out her smartphone and showed her an article "One of the protesters was recently arrested for throwing firecrackers in a protest a few months ago"

"FIRECRACKERS!?" the mayor turned to his secretary "Yamashita! Make sure those punks don't start throwing those things to the children!"

Still rubbing his head from being hit a few moments ago the secretary saluted before running off.

"I better go and try to settle the situation" Mr Asada nodded before following his secretary.

Mitsuru got the phone from Kikuno and read the article "It seems that he's not alone in the firecracker incident, he's part of some group that seems to be against the Kirijo Group"

"They probably got word that you're here so that's why they're here" Kikuno looked very concerned.

The heiress pondered over her situation, while she really didn't care much for the protesters she had been used to criticism, what she did worry though was the safety of the evacuees.

"Oh no" Kikuno looked really worried from seeing Mitsuru's face "You're not planning on talking to the protesters"

"I'm all they want" Mitsuru reasoned "And don't worry, if worse comes to worst I can defend myself"

"That's what I'm worried about"

* * *

Minato was never a fashionable person.

If anything his choice of clothes depended on comfort and practicality. This was why when he was in high school he usually just wore baggy camo pants and a t-shirt. He didn't really think killers for hire had a dress code when they get blood covered in their expensive suits anyway.

But alas Igor was a man of style and as such all his employees must exude it as well, even dogs such as himself. This was why almost the entirety of Minato's closet was full of custom-made luxury brand suits and other formal wear. He remembered being very annoyed and uncomfortable during his first suit fitting when he was around fifteen, it was just weird being only in your underwear and having an old man wrap a tape measure around every joint of your body.

Now Minato has gotten used to the lifestyle and has one way or another acquired some form of taste, meaning he could tell a fake imitation from genuine Italian stitching. Right now the blunet was actually up before 12 noon, which was a rarity on his days off and walking over to Iwatodai Station to visit his tailor.

Shirakawa Boulevard used to be known for hosting brothels and other shady establishments, but following an incident where a bomb exploded in one of the hotels and several raids from the local government that entire street started to change. While there were still a couple of gyaru girls who would walk up to businessmen and a few bars it wasn't as bad as before. Right now though the location's main attraction was a tiny boutique not too far from the station.

On the displays, you could see models wearing several kimono designs and other fabrics used in making them. When Minato entered the shop he noticed that there were a couple of customers looking around.

Minato immediately went for the cashier where a young girl with long dark brown hair wearing a pair of black glasses, she was intensely reading what appeared to be a shojo manga.

He coughed to indicate his presence.

At once the girl squealed and jumped in shock that a few customers looked over at them. The girl immediately put her manga down and when she faced Minato her face turned into a deep shade of red.

"Yu . . . Yuki-san" she stuttered before she stood up straight and tried to fix her long white skirt "I'm sorry, I didn't see it was you"

The guy just nodded "Is Bebe back?"

"Oh yes, just last night!" the cashier girl said almost a little too eagerly "Would you like me . . ."

"AH My friend, you are here!" exclaimed a Frenchman with short blond hair wearing a blue kimono with floral and bird patterns embroidered unto the velvet cloth.

Minato did a salute "Nice to see you again Bebe"

"Come here! I have not seen you for such a long time" the Frenchman went over to Minato and kissed the sides of his face "Oh it's so very good to ve back, I might have only been gone for three days but to me, it felt like an eternity"

"Chihiro told me you went to Paris Fashion Week, isn't that your hometown?" Minato asked.

Bebe raised his palms to the heavens "I may have been born in Paré but my heart is always in Nippon, it is my true home and being away from my home is very crushing to say da least"

"Good to know that"

The designer looked over at his friend "Since you're here that means one thing, either you're looking for a new suit or you burned your last one, again"

Minato waved his hand "A little of both I guess"

Bebe turned around and snapped his fingers "Say no more, Chihiro clear my schedule for today, I'm going to be busy with my friend over here"

"Umm but sir!" Chihiro raised her finger "You have an interview with Elle this afternoon"

"Cancel it!" Bebe declared as though it were the law "I value my most important client over a silly piece of stuck up women who just spend their days selling glossy paper with pictures"

The cashier girl quieted down "Umm . . . I'll see to it . . ."

"Good now come here my friend," Bebe said leading Minato to the back of his store "I already have a vision for your new suit"

Behind the store was a sewing room where Bebe made his Kimonos and there was a desk at the left end of the room filled with several papers which is probably where Chihiro does the accounting and other work. Right next to a row of sewing machines was a staircase behind a metal door which led to the second floor.

Bebe typed a code in the keypad before opening the door and the two were lead upstairs. Compared to the homely sewing room downstairs upstairs was much cleaner. There were different suits behind glass cases, several pieces of cloth hanging from a revolving hanger, a wooden stool in the middle of the room for the client to stand on and of course tiny shooting range at the back to test out the suits.

"Now for what occasion is this for?" the designer spun around to face his client "Fancy party? A simple stroll in the park? Or a funeral?"

"Umm . . . a shareholder's ball" Minato said looking around the different suits displayed.

At this Bebe's eyes brightened "Ohh, it's that time of the year already" he clapped his hands "What's the theme this year?"

"Fearful Experiences"

The blond rubbed his chin "Hmm, quite vague yet at the same time specific"

"Well it's still in three weeks so you still got time" Minato shrugged "Also I need a new bulletproof vest, Pharos stole mine and when he returned it to me it was basically a handkerchief"

"Ohh perfect I just got this cloth from Italy while I was touring Europe and I have to say it's better than the last one" he went over to the samples and showed it to Minato "This cloth will ensure that no bullet fired from around 50 meters will penetrate the skin, might feel a little itchiness though"

Minato rubbed his fingers over the very thick fabric "I can endure a little irritation"

"I swear you're the only assassin I know who's terrible at guns that he needs double protection to survive a gun battle" Bebe chuckled.

"Geraux-san!" Chihiro came up running holding a tiny envelope in her hand.

The designer sighed "Yes Chihiro" he faced his cashier girl.

She lifted the envelope "This just arrived sir" she gave the white envelope to him.

Bebe looked at the front "What is this, another invitation to some fashion show" he then cut the seal using his nails and looked at the card inside "MERDE! This is a funeral invite!"

"That's a pretty fancy one," Minato said eying the invite, all of a sudden his eyes widened when he read whose funeral it was.

Chihiro took note of this "Is there something wrong Yuki-san"

The blunet stared at the invite for a moment before shaking his head "It's . . . umm nothing"

The name written on the card was Meaghan Zakchaios.

And he just killed her husband last week.

* * *

The wine cellar underneath the Kirijo estate was a place that Mitsuru found herself coming to more and more as she grew older. She remembered the first time she came here shortly after her father had died and her mother introduced Mitsuru to a bottle of wine that was named after her. That was the first time that Mitsuru had passed out from drinking.

She was much older now and she could now handle her liquor a little better, but not enough that she would drink in a bar. She was now seated in a little lounge area in the cellar with a folder containing a report about the power plants in one hand and a glass of her namesake wine in the other.

There was another meeting tomorrow regarding on the estate of the nuclear plants and its employees and Mitsuru wanted to be sure that she had covered everything. This was how she always handled situations even in her personal life and so far it has never failed her.

All of a sudden her thoughts drifted away from the charts and numbers, instead, her mind wandered off to the protesters.

Against Kikuno's better judgement Mitsuru had actually gone over the group and personally asked them to leave the evacuation centre and not cause any harm. What she got as a reply were a couple of them throwing rocks at her (which she dodged) and their leader laughing at her face.

"Well well, so the mighty Kirijo decided to talk to us mortals," said their leader who was a tanned boy wearing a beanie and holding a sign calling the Kirjo Group a group of fascists.

Mitsuru kept a passive face "Please, your demonstration is causing a disturbance here"

"YOU PEOPLE ARE THE DISTURBANCE!" yelled a girl behind the leader.

"YEAH IF YOU JUST GAVE THE PEOPLE THE POWER PLANT NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED!" yelled another protester.

Kikuno, the oh so very faithful maid, was behind Mitsuru and was quick to reply "I'm sorry but your argument makes no senses"

"SHUT UP YOU FASCIST SLAVE!" yelled the protester girl again "YOU BETRAYED YOUR PEOPLE BY WORKING FOR VILE MONSTERS SUCH AS THEM!"

The redhead put her hand in front of the maid "Don't answer them, they just live for provoking people"

"ARE YOU CALLING ME A SEXIST?!" in here the protester girl was cut off by their leader.

"That's enough Yoshimi," the guy said before facing the heiress "Okay, fine we'll leave. On one condition"

"You know I cannot stop the power plant shut down" Mitsuru crossed her arms "It's a direct order from the government"

"That's not what we want," the guy said "What we want is that Kirijo Corp gives every person here in this village an allowance of at least a million yen per year"

This made the redhead raise her eyebrow "Pardon?"

"COME ON! It's the least that your damn company could do!" the protester stomped his foot "After all this town is basically dependent on that stupid power plant. Back then our source of livelihood was farming but ever since you people opened that stupid plant we're no longer independent and become your slaves!"

Still keeping a neutral face "I understand your fear of unemployment in this town, which is why we plan to relocate former factory workers to other departments within our corporation"

"THEN THAT MEANS THEY'RE LEAVING THIS PLACE!"

"That is correct"

At this, the girl started screaming "JUST GIVE US THE MONEY! YOU GUYS PROBABLY GOT LOTS OF IT ANYWAY!"

"If I remember correctly only 30 per cent of the residents here work for our power plant" Mitsuru gave the girl a condescending look "And majority of the population, particularly the youth are just unemployed bystanders relying on their elders for money"

This made the protester girl turn red "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!" she then brought out a stick "FUCK YOU LIBERALS LET'S JUST BURN THIS PLACE!"

"Put down that dynamite!" Mitsuru glared at the younger girl "You're just harming your fellow villagers"

"ALL PEOPLE WHO SERVE FASCISTS MUST BE PUNISHED!" and with that, she brought out a match and was about to light the dynamite but before the match could reach contact the leader protester swatted it away.

"Yoshimi that is enough," the male protester said "You're being illogical"

"WHAT DO YOU"

"You're just spitting out nonsense and causing a wreck, the reason people don't take us seriously is that you make a fool out of yourself" he then pushed the girl to the floor "That is enough we're disbanding, and Yoshimi you're therefore removed from this group"

The girl looked at the guy with wide eyes "What?"

And with that, the group immediately disbanded and left the city hall leaving Yoshimi distraught.

Mitsuru went over the girl and offered her hand.

The girl just looked at her hand, glared at Mitsuru and spat on it.

If Mitsuru didn't stop Kikuno the girl would have had a broken arm. This made Mitsuru ponder on the motives of those youngsters. While she really shouldn't mind little things like this she couldn't help but feel a bit unnerved by the protest leader and she didn't know why. He seemed more pacifist compared to his violent group, though he did give a bit of a too hopeful solution.

She had a feeling she would be seeing the young boy again.

"Madam" Kikuno came into the cellar with a large envelope in her hand "This . . . file suddenly appeared in your study"

Mitsuru blinked "May I see what it is?"

The maid went over and handed her the file, immediately Mitsuru recognized the design. It was the same mask design she saw in Elizabeth's case a few months ago.

Immediately Mitsuru opened it with Kikuno looking over from her shoulder "It seems you know the sender, what is it?"

"It appears . . . to be an invitation to a shareholders ball" she looked at the bottom part "And it doesn't state the place or time, just the date"

"That seems quite eerie ma'am" Kikuno looked suspiciously at the invite "Is this not from some shady organization that wants to kidnap you?"

"I don't think so" Mitsuru put the folder down "You shouldn't worry I'm pretty sure I'm in safe hands"

This made the maid worry even more "You seem to trust this . . . hitman"

"What can I say" Mitsuru smirked "The man is a professional"

* * *

A few weeks ago . . .

 _"How do I justify my job?" Mr Yuki repeated her question._

 _Mitsuru nodded "Yes, how do you . . . say that what you're doing is right?"_

 _The blue-haired man tapped his fingers on the dining table "Well, may I ask you Miss Kirijo" he looked at her "Do you believe in God?"_

 _This startled her "Excuse me?"_

 _"Do you believe that there's a higher being?" he lit his cigarette "The one that determines our fate, the one that created the universe, the one that knows what is right and what is wrong"_

 _"I . . . don't see myself particularly religious" Mitsuru replied honestly._

 _"While I don't define myself as religious I can get by with some of the stuff written in the Bible" he leaned back against his chair "In fact, several other religious texts gives some great insights on how one must live"_

 _Mitsuru crossed her arms "Pardon me, but I must say you sound very pretentious" she smirked._

 _At this Yuki shrugged "Then tell me how you base your moral values from?"_

 _The redhead blinked "My morals? Well . . . I believe, that in whatever deity you believe in, it's a mortal sin to murder your fellow man"_

 _"Why do you think so?"_

 _"Because . . . men don't have the right to take a life?"_

 _He clapped his hands "Because only the universe can take a life, do you think that if everyone died by mere old age or coincidences would that make the world a better place?"_

 _Mitsuru bit lip in thought "In theory I think. That's probably when humanity has reached utopian status"_

 _"If humanity reaches utopian status we'd probably be defying death or something" he shrugged "I dunno, I'm probably just spitting out things from my ass or something"_

 _This made Mitsuru chuckle "Are you just trying to dodge my question?"_

 _"Maybe" placed the cigarette in his mouth "Or maybe I'm saying that the reason you'll feeling guilty over this arrangement is that while it's my hands that get covered in blood you still feel like you're the one who did the dirty work"_

 _"Maybe . . ."_

 _"Soldiers and policemen kill people all the time" he puffed a smoke, which slightly irritated Mitsuru "Yet they're viewed as heroes. I'm not saying they aren't and should be considered cannibals, what I'm saying is that while they're the ones shooting criminals and terrorists the one who answers to their sins is not them but the government"_

 _"Do you think that the government then is justifiable for their actions?"_

 _Again he shrugged "They may or may not be but there is a reason why they were given authority. Without a government or anybody that controls a state then there will only be chaos as everyone will end up murdering each other. The reason why the Velvet Room was established was in order to put some sort of government over the black market and make sure that society in one way or another is in order"_

 _This made Mitsuru raised a brow "Are . . . you . . . saying the Velvet Room . . . is under the government?"_

 _Mr Yuki shifted his eyes "I suggest you keep your voice down, my sister is probably overhearing our conversation" with that he suddenly turned towards the wall behind him "Oi! I told you no playing VR when we have guests in the house!"_

* * *

"We're supposed to stir this right?" Fuuka looked at her pot, seeming unsure of what mixture she had concocted.

Hamuko looked over at the bowl "Umm, what did you mix in there?"

"I . . ." she looked over at her card "1 cup shredded Gruyere cheese, 2 cups baby spinach leaves, 1/2 cup of soy sauce, 3 cups of chopped pigs liver, 2 tbsp of cheese pasta sauce and a cup of blended avocado"

In here the redhead went white "Fuuka"

"Yes?"

"You do realize we're making Okonomiyaki" Hamuko sniffled "I don't think that's a basis for pancakes"

Fuuka clutched her chest "Do you think . . . I should add flour?"

"I think we should start over" looked over at the weird mixture Fuuka had made and she couldn't help but feel a bit queasy.

"But . . . it's such a waste of ingredients" Fuuka pondered "I think it would be okay if we . . . tried to put on a little twist to the recipe"

At times like this Hamuko wished they weren't partners, she knew she herself wasn't a great chef but putting the two of them in one group just leads to disaster "Uhh . . . so how do we make it a pancake then?"

"What the hell is this?!" both girls turned to see their very tall a scary looking sensei looking at their pan as though it was a new form of alien species "I told you to make pancakes not rat poison!" he pointed at the chopped liver "And you didn't even chop them right! What did you do pound the piece of meat with a hammer!?"

Fuuka's lower lip trembled from being berated "I was just . . . trying to come up with something new . . ."

"YOU CAN'T GO ALL BALSY AND COME UP WITH SOMETHING NEW IF YOU CAN'T EVEN MAKE SOMETHING AS BASIC AS OKONOMIYAKI!" as he yelled a couple of students were looking at them and Fuuka seemed to sink even lower and lower.

Hamuko looked at her friend and she couldn't help but feel bad for her, while she knew she'd probably dig herself a hole for picking another fight with Aragaki-sensei but this guy seriously kept testing her nerves.

"Sensei!" Hamuko raised her voice "With all due respect I think it's a little too much to yell at a student and start belittling her cooking"

The bonnet wearing teacher gave her look "I'm not belittling her, I'm just saying she's an idiot, a cocky idiot in fact"

"Hamu-chan don't" Fuuka held the Arisato's hand to try to placate her.

"Listen here" Hamuko raised her finger "Just because you're now a person with authority doesn't mean you can just talk down your students and make them lose their self-esteem"

At this, the teacher rolled his eyes "What are you a kindergartener? Do you want me to give you a hug and a pat on the back for your failures? Kid if you think that your partner here has made a decent piece of cuisine then please" he gestured his hand towards the pan "Why don't you take a bite"

It was in here where Hamuko regretted all her life decisions.

"Uhh . . ." she wearily looked at the strange colour "I . . . don't think it's cooked yet, I mean we were only mixing the ingredients . . . hehehe"

"If that's the case" Aragaki-sensei smirked "Well then" he clapped his hands loudly to make sure all students in the home economics room were looking (not that they weren't already) "Class we are about to have a demonstration by these two lovely ladies who think that they're so much better at cooking that they rather do an experimental dish than do boring old pancakes"

Both girls were now blushing red as tomatoes, Fuuka out of shame and Hamuko out of a mixture of embarrassment and anger.

"I think we should just apologize" Fuuka whispered, she was clearly trying to hold back her tears.

But Hamuko was a stubborn girl. No Hamuko had a lot of dignity and pride to allow herself to apologize, especially with how far she's gone with this. The smirking teacher was making her more angry and agitated than scared. She knew this was a stupid thing to fight for, and she was pretty sure if worse comes to worst she'd be called over to the principal's office.

Or worst they call her brother.

It was here that Hamuko started to sweat. Ever since they lived on their own Hamuko had tried her best to not be a nuisance to her older brother. She never got into big trouble and always behaved . . . ok behaved majority of the time. In fact, she remembered very clearly when she got in trouble during middle school after she got into a fight with a male school bully. She knew she was right that stupid boy was taking other people's lunches, so he deserved to be punched.

When her brother was called in she expected him to side with her. She expected Minato to defend her and tell the principal she was wrong. Instead, as soon as he stepped out of the principal's office . . . he glared at her. While sure he does that a lot at home the way he glared at her that time gave her goosebumps. It was like . . . a combination of disappointment, anger, shame and a threat.

After that Minato didn't speak to her for a month.

And now here she was. Making a fool out of herself because of stupid pride. This was a losing battle and she knew it. If she gave in and apologized he would probably shame her for the whole year and that was bad for her already beaten ego, if she kept up with this, on the other hand, Minato probably would stop coming home.

"Well then" the teacher gave her a look "Aren't you gonna demonstrate?"

All eyes were now on Hamuko and she felt cold sweat down her neck "I . . . ummm . . ."

RIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG!

At the sound of the school bell ringing a frown was on Arakagi's face "Looks like you two were saved by the bell" he tsked "Literally" he then turned to his students "Okay everyone clean up, whatever you finished you better give it to me"

There was a chorus of groaning heard throughout the class.

"That . . . was a close one" Fuuka held unto her chest "I've never been so petrified in all my . . . Hamu-chan are you okay?"

Hamuko just stood there frozen "I think I believe in God"

"What?!"

"YOU TWO" Arakagi sensei pointed at the two girls "You're meeting me after school"

Fuuka looked at Hamuko "I don't think it's going to be a friendly coaching"

"I believe in God" Hamuko blinked "And I believe he's cursing me"

* * *

"You seem to be very deep in thought young master" Yakushiji commented as he entered the young detective's office.

Right on the large desk were files related to the Kirijo Family. Profiles from Kouetsu Kirijo to the current head Mitsuru, a brief histories of the company, a list of their subsidiaries and pictures of the crime scene.

Naoto stared at the information displayed in front of her, while some may think it's already a lot of data for her it seemed like she barely scratched the surface. This wasn't the first time she had an investigation regarding the company; she remembered a murder case wherein one of the shareholders was a suspect.

While the shareholder was deemed innocent that didn't mean Naoto didn't let Kirijo off the hook just yet.

"I think I need a little break" she stretched her arms and got off her desk "Thank you for the tea"

"Did you make any progress young master?" the dutiful secretary asked.

A frown formed on the young girl's face "I think I need to look deep into grandfather's archives later, but sooner or later I have to visit the crime scene itself"

"Should I inform your grandfather that you'll be leaving again?"

"Soon but not now" Naoto took a sip of her tea "I need to first know what I'm dealing with before I enter the lion's den"

* * *

Bumping into acquaintances could turn into one of three things: either you completely ignore them and continue walking, you stop by for an idle chat then go on never to see them again or . . . they drag you into things that will totally mess up your day.

This is exactly what happened to Yukari Takeba while she was on her way to an audition in Iwatodai Station.

"STUPEI WHERE ARE YOU TAKING ME?!" she yelled at the man with the cap.

"Come on Yuka-tan" the guy gave her a grin "Don't you wanna catch up with an old friend?"

This made the brunette groan "I would but I'm sorta busy at the moment" she pulled her hand from his grip "I have an audition to head to"

Junpei stopped in his tracks and turned around to face her with a confused face "Audition? Don't you have the lead part in the Featherman series? What you got tired of being in a kids show already?"

"It's not that!" Yukari's cheeks turned red "I . . . just . . . wanted to test the waters . . ."

Putting his hands behind his head "Uhuh, don't you already have a busy schedule juggling school and acting?"

"I . . . do" she pouted "Hey! Why the hell are you judging me! It's my life choices!"

"Come on Yuka-tan, I just wanted to have a chat with ya and you know" he shrugged "Catch up, I mean we rarely see each other these days, heck I'm starting to forget what Akihiko-senpai looks like"

Clasping her hands behind her back "I guess you can say that . . ."

"COME ON!" he put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer "I'll even treat ya to lunch"

"YOU? Treating me?" Yukari's eyes narrowed "Hey wait a minute is there something I'm not getting here"

"Why that's very rude Yukari" Junpei held unto his chest as though stabbed "How dare you to think that my generosity as phoney"

She raised a brow "Because I know you" she then removed his hand from her shoulder "Fine I'm coming for lunch, but it's only because you were so persistent"

A big smile formed on the lanky man's face "Alright I knew you'd come around, come on there's this sweet Chinese restaurant I know that has some really yummy dumplings"

"It better be an actual restaurant and not some shady food cart" Yukari followed the man with a cap only to stop in her tracks when she spotted something or someone "Hey isn't that Mitsuru-senpai?" she pointed at the familiar redhead who was walking across the street.

Again Junpei stopped in his tracks and spun around excitedly "Really where? We should invite her as well"

"Hmm" Yukari's eyes bored into the heiress "She seems to be with someone else"

"Really?" Junpei squinted his eyes "Is it that crazy maid she has? She gives me the creeps sometimes"

"It's not Kikuno" at this Yukari raised her brows "It's a guy"

Scratching his head "Business partner?"

"Hmm . . ." Yukari rubbed her chin.

This gave Junpei some bad vibes "Uhh, Yuka-tan what . . . . HEY!" before he could say anything the young actress was already trying to follow her senpai while hiding behind several barriers to remain incognito. "This doesn't seem like a good idea . . ."

* * *

 **Thanks to The Reaper Only,** **ENDDRAGON369, spookyhouse99, WanderingReader10, aimankamal2306, lufer, aimankamal2306, The Rogue Of Heroes, PhoenixRiser18 and Winter Arctica for favoriting and/or following this story.**

 **Sorry for the delay again, for a while I didn't feel like writing and the new PQ2 trailer reinvigorated me finish this. Not much action scenes happened here, wanted to give characters sorta a break.**

 **On a side note I recently graduated yay! But I'm not ready for the real world yet XD**

 **Please Review.**


	6. Été (Partie Un)

"How can an adolescent girl struggle with cracking an egg?" Arakagi-sensei looked down at the two girls who once again made a mess of the kitchen "Yet you two are ACTUAL members of the cooking club"

Hamuko pointed sheepishly at Fuuka "She's actually the founder"

The hooded teacher couldn't help but facepalm from the revelation "That . . . just makes things even worst"

"I'm trying my best!" the shorter girl spoke up though in a rather softer tone "It's just that . . . I get ahead of myself I guess"

"This is literally going nowhere" Arakagi-sensei rubbed his forehead "Ok, stop breaking eggs we're just wasting the sacrifices of those poor hens"

Hamuko gave the teacher a weird look "Uhmm, okay but . . . you didn't have to word it that way"

Fuuka, on the other hand, seemed terrified "You're right we're basically bathing chicken . . . with their own children"

"OH COME ON DON'T GO THERE!" the redhead girl gagged.

"Okay, that's enough" Arakagi-sensei coughed "When you were kids do have a Licca-chan cooking set or something like that?"

At this Hamuko cocked her head "Umm . . . are you referring to the . . . toy set?"

"I don't remember having any sorts when I was a child" Fuuka looked down holding unto her skirt "My parents didn't have the time"

The teacher faced Hamuko with a raised brow "And you?"

"Umm" the younger Arisato rubbed her arm "I never really played with toys when I was a kid . . . umm . . . I usually just kicked a can or poked frogs with sticks when I was bored"

At this, the man closed his eyes and seemed to be in deep concentration "It makes sense now" he nodded his head "You two were hopeless from the start"

"HEY!" Hamuko protested "Don't blame our upbringing for our lack of cooking talent!"

"It does have a factor though Hamu-chan" Fuuka raised her head.

Arakagi-sensei sighed "Okay, we'll end our lesson for today you can go home for now"

"Oh, already?" Fuuka looked confused.

Hamuko untied her apron "Why did you ask for the cooking set?"

"Just come here tomorrow, I'm gonna do a special lesson with you" the older man gave the two girls a look "Since you two girls will probably be too stubborn to stop cooking even if I tell you"

* * *

"What do you think Arakagi-sensei going to do to us tomorrow?" Fuuka asked as they were by the shoe lockers getting ready to go home.

The redhead sighed "Who knows but it is kinda sad" she crossed her arms "We're basically failing as women at this point for not being able to cook even simple scrambled eggs"

The teal-haired girl put her palms behind her back and looked down "Are you saying we should give up?"

"Oh no!" Hamuko fisted her palms "That just means we have to try har-"

"THERE YOU ARE!"

The two girls jumped and turned to see Rio wearing her tennis uniform and holding a racket in her hand "Hamuko . . ." she huffed "Why weren't you at practice earlier?"

Hamuko immediately went in a panicked defensive move "Umm … uh . . . didn't I tell you? I got remedial classes for home economics" she waved her hands in front of her.

The tennis club member didn't seem amused "No, you didn't tell me that" she had a very disappointed look on her face "I actually thought you were different Arisato but I guess you're just like the others" and with that, she ran off.

"WAIT! RIO!" Hamuko turned to Fuuka "Sorry you go on ahead I have some business to take care of"

The shorter girl nodded "You go and settle things with Iwasaki-san"

With that Hamuko ran through the halls of Gekkoukan following the direction in which Rio had run to earlier. "If I remember correctly she probably went up the stairs" she was running around the second-floor hallway when she got called out by Hidetoshi Odagiri.

"ARISATO NO RUNNING IN THE HALLWAY!" he pointed a finger at her as he called her out "You should know better"

Hamuko suddenly stopped running to face the student council president "I'm sorry but this is an emergency have you seen another girl from the tennis team come up here?"

"You mean there's another student running around the halls like a maniac?!" Hidetoshi seemed appalled "This is ridiculous just because summer vacation doesn't mean rules are suddenly lifted and anarchy is now of the norm!"

The redhead blinked "So you haven't seen her then . . . well, in that case, I'll be leaving"

"OH NO YOU DON'T ARISATO YOU'RE COMING WITH ME," the student council president said grabbing her hand and pulling her "You're in a lot of trouble young lady"

Hamuko sighed "Even in summer I just can't seem to catch a break can't I?"

* * *

"Is there a particular reason you wanted to talk to me" Masato Aono was currently in a Swedish themed restaurant having lunch with his boss, Mitsuru Kirijo.

The heiress gave a gentle smile "Why don't we discuss the matter after we finish our meal?"

The businessman seemed to be sweating under his Reiss double breasted charcoal suit "If that's the case then" as his face started twitching.

Their lunch then proceeded in silence with Mitsuru casually eating her raw moose heart while Aono was close to gagging as he swallowed some scallops. Did she catch wind of his embezzling of funds? Did she manage to trace her kidnapping to him? Didn't those people in Strega say something about a room or something?

"Are you alright Aono-san?" the lady asked with a tone that shown some actual concern was she playing mind games with him?

He bobbed his head "I'm just a bit tired, just came back from a meeting in Tokyo"

"Is that so" she cocked her head "If that's the case we could schedule this talk some other time if you aren't feeling well"

"I suggest you just get on with it" he held tightly unto his cutlery "No point on going around the bush they say"

Again she did that smile where she closed her eyes "I see" she opened her eyes and put down her utensils "I just wanted to seek your opinion regarding the power plants"

He squeezed even tighter unto the knife and fork "I think you know very well my opinion regarding that matter"

"Yes I know you're opposed to us shutting them down" again she closed her eyes "But you never really explained why you wanted us to keep them open despite it being a direct government order"

He stood up from the table "Excuse me but I need to use the bathroom"

"Is that so, then please" she gestured with her hands "Take your time"

He never walked so fast to the bathroom in his entire life; as soon as he reached the toilet he locked himself in and immediately gagged the scallops into the toilet. After throwing up around three times he was now seated on the bathroom floor covering his face with the paper napkins that were on the side of the toilet.

"That bitch" he muttered, "Who eats raw hearts like that?"

He looked at the ceiling trying to fix his thoughts "It'll only be a matter of time before she realizes what I've done" he crumpled the paper napkins "And those stupid killers for hire did nothing but stir up no trouble . . . not unless . . ." he wiped the remaining vomit from his lips with his thumb "I do it myself"

* * *

Junpei couldn't help but cry when he compared how much the food costed to how much food he got for the price, he could have bought a two really good baseball gloves with that cash.

"Yuka-tan, you literally used my rent for the next 6 months" he wept.

Yukari, on the other hand, seemed to be more concerned with the man Mitsuru was having lunch with as she had been staring at the bathroom door for some time.

"Oi! Are you even listening to me!" the man with the hat yelled which cause the customers dining behind them to shush them.

Finally, the actress faced him, surprisingly she wasn't irritated at him "There's something sneaky about that guy"

"Well he's a guy in a suit, they're all sneaky" Junpei poked whatever meat was in his plate "What the hell is this shit anyway it doesn't look like it's cooked"

Yukari looked at her friend's dish "I think that's raw liver or something"

At once Junpei stopped poking and slowly looked at Yukari as if her face was peeling "I paid that much money for food that's not even cooked?"

"That's why I just ordered the soup" she then looked at her bowl with she was half-way done with "I mean it doesn't seem half bad"

At this Junpei signalled the waiter "Excuse me but what is that soup made out of?"

The man nicely replied "Pig's blood sir"

Junpei did a cheeky smile "Thank you, sir"

"I think I need to go to the bathroom" Yukari grabbed unto a napkin to cover her mouth as she dashed to the toilet.

* * *

Meaghan Zakchaios was a Japanese-American cricket player who happened to be the daughter of a real-estate tycoon from Kyoto. Shortly after the death of her father from lung cancer Meaghan had quit the sport and took over the business, not long after that she wedded Greek entrepreneur Emilio Zakchaios. Despite the fifteen year age difference and protests from her mother the two were wed in an August wedding around three years ago.

A month before the wedding anniversary Emilio was found dead then two weeks later Meaghan was found in the same state as well.

Minato had never met the young lady though from their correspondence she seemed like a nice lady, just heavily wronged by her husband. So here he was on a summery night in Los Angeles he came to pay his respects and also find out what exactly happened to her.

There were police officers around the wake as the investigation of her death was still being conducted. Majority of those in attendance seemed to be businessmen and old cricket players.

It was also uncomfortable inside as it was the middle of summer and wearing black while in a full room just made things a little hotter than normal. Minato was constantly fanning himself while seating in one corner and drinking green tea.

"Well isn't this a surprise" the blue-haired man turned around to see a middle-aged man with dark grey hair and eyes wearing a black suit and a red and white patterned tie along with a pair of shades standing behind him "I didn't know you were in acquaintance with Madam Zakchaios."

Minato nodded back at him "Good to see you Tanaka-san"

"Yes indeed" the businessman eyed the room "Too bad it was under such . . . drab circumstances" he faced the young man "Her father was an old partner of mine, such a shame that no one will probably hold the company now"

Sipping his tea "I used to work for her"

This made the old man raise a brow "Did that job involve her husband?"

"Maybe"

Tanaka shook his head "There are cops around here, be careful, boy"

This made Minato smirk "I could say the same for you"

"Excuse me" he raised his nose "But I'm a legitimate businessman"

"You keep telling yourself that"

"Something tells me that you're here not just to pay your respects" Tanaka looked around the crowd "Did you find out how she died?"

Tapping his fingers unto the ceramic cup "She was found by one of the maids floating around her pool, they could say she was drunk, fell asleep and drowned but there were marks all over her body"

"They didn't say anything about marks on the news" Tanaka rubbed his chin.

"I may have asked one of the maids"

At this Tanaka smirked "Meaning you slept with one of them" he went closer to him "Is that why you're sweating now?"

Minato looked at his empty cup "The maids here are almost as old as you"

"Now that never stopped yo . . . HEY IM NOT THAT OLD!" Tanaka pointed a finger at him.

The assassin stood up "Well I'm gonna check the pool" he handed the cup to the businessman "Nice seeing you"

Tanaka blinked from looking from the young man's retreating figure to the cup "SINCE WHEN WAS I YOUR MAID!"

Minato made his way around the house it was an old traditional Japanese style home with several paintings done by local artists and ancient scrolls. "Why is it so damn hot tonight?" he muttered, he was at the back of the house where there were few guests.

He about to open the sliding doors to the pool when he heard a voice.

"I wouldn't go there if I were you"

Minato turned around to see a small girl wearing a black satin Lolita dress with a balloon skirt with blue flowers patterned on them. She had long red hair which was tied with black ribbons and a ruffled headband, she had some sort of choker around her neck and she had a sort of 'dead' look on her face.

The first thing that Minato could say was "Aren't you sweating wearing that thing?"

The strange girl cocked her head "I beg your pardon?"

"It's just that . . ." he decided that it was probably a personal choice "Anyway why shouldn't I go out?"

Keeping an emotionless face "Because whatever you're looking for isn't there, the police have already cleared the area and found nothing"

He raised a brow "And what makes you so sure of that"

"I make sure to never leave evidence in my murders," she said inspecting her fingernails. "Not even a speck"

Minato took another look at the girl "Why are you telling me this"

"Because you're one of us" she flipped her hair "A dog ordered to bite for his masters"

He remained quiet.

She cocked her head "So you must be the guy who killed her husband, you leave quite a mess"

"There was a lot of them" he looked around to see if anyone could overhear their conversation.

"I'm sure no one would disturb us here" she slowly approached him and he could see she was wearing black stockings "So you're him huh"

"I'm who now?"

Her eyes inspected him "The famous No.3 of the Velvet Room" her gaze never faltered "You're quite famous in the underground"

He was starting to feel slightly uncomfortable with this doll-like girl looking at him as though he were some toy or a piece of meat "Gee, I wonder why"

She backed away "Is it true you killed three SWAT team members with nail clippers?"

"I remember killing three guys but I don't know if they were SWAT" he turned away.

"I see" she shrugged "Well then it's nice meeting you" as she turned to leave she stopped when he spoke again.

"Aren't you bit cocky?" he said putting his hands on his pockets "Coming to your victim's funeral and bragging you did it"

She turned to him still with a blank look "I wasn't bragging, I was simply answering the question you clearly came here to find"

"I see" he looked at the pool which was surrounded by police tape.

"I could tell you who made me do it," she said while playing with the fabric of her dress "But knowing from how your company operates you probably won't do anything about it"

Facing her again "Then why tell me?"

"I dunno" she looked up tapping her chin, "Part of me thinks we have more in common than just our occupation"

* * *

The waiter was serving Mitsuru her dessert of assorted berries when she felt her phone vibrate. She excused herself from the waiter as she answered the call "Yes, chairman"

"I apologize if I'm being a bothering Jew but" Ikutsuki puffed a smoke "It's been a few months since you hired someone from Velvet and you don't seem to be using it to your advantage"

Mitsuru scowled "I just did the contract out of precaution and tradition"

"Now I understand you clearly have morals" the man adjusted his glasses "But you and I know that the investigation regarding your father's death is going nowhere"

"You seem to have no faith in the police department," she said putting a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I was born to be a pessimist. My blood type is B Negative."

Mitsuru took a bite of her berries "Well I'm still looking over the list you gave me"

"There's another reason why I decided to call by the way," the man said suddenly changing the topic "A young man will be coming to your office next week"

She paused in putting the strawberry in her mouth "A young man?"

"Yes, they've put someone else in charge of your father's case now" she could hear a file flipping "A Naoto Shirogane will be questioning you and will be looking over at the site in Gekkoukan High"

Mitsuru's shoulders sagged "Is that so . . . well it's a good thing its summer then they aren't many students there"

"We'll have to cancel a couple of summer classes and team training going on" the man then asked, "When are you coming back to the office then?"

"Probably tomorrow" she checked her watch "I have an economics lecture this afternoon"

"Hmm school" Ikutsuki remembered nostalgically "I used to have a math teacher who called me average, she was quite mean"

"Is there anything you would like to tell me then Chairman?" Mitsuru put the strawberry in her mouth.

"Hmm nothing much, I'll just tell you about Aono tomorrow"

This made her put down her fork "Aono?"

"Yes . . . there seems to be . . . several accusations against him"

"I see thank you then" and without saying goodbye she hung up the phone. She looked around the restaurant for the man; she then stood up "He must still be in the rest room"

* * *

"I am never eating from fancy restaurants again" Yukari grumbled as she washed her face on the sink after throwing up the entire soup in the toilet. She held unto the sides of the sink and stared at her reflection on the mirror "Oh no my mascara is running".

It was in here another person came out of the cubicle normally Yukari would ignore it but when she realized it was a man she couldn't help but yelp in surprise.

The man in the cotton suit looked at her in equal confusion "What . . . are you doing in the men's room?"

"The men's room . . ." she pointed at the door she just came from "But it was labelled women's"

"What!?" he pointed at the door on the other side "But that door said it was men's "

The girl crossed her arms over her chest "Don't tell me . . . this is a unisex bathroom . . ." she was about to grumble even more complaints about high-class restaurants until she realized who she was actually having a conversation with "Wait a minute . . ."

The man jerked away as she slowly approached him "Uhh . . . what are you doing?"

"Weren't you the guy having lunch with Mitsuru Kirijo?" she asked.

For a split second his eyes went menacing at the mention of her name but immediately it was gone "Umm . . . well, she's my boss . . ."

"Have you ever heard of an idol named Iha Haniko?" she asked her lips drawing into a snarl.

This time the name she mentioned made the man turn pale "Well . . . well . . . I ah... .am not familiar with idol culture . . ."

"Really" Yukari was really pushing it this time "Cause if I remember correctly I saw you leaving with her the night she committed suicide"

Right now the man's body was shaking "Wait . . . aren't you . . . Yukari Takeba?"

"What of it?" her eyes flickered with some form of rage.

Almost immediately like from Jekyll and Hyde the business man had a complete personality shift "So you saw what happened then . . ."

* * *

The other problem Hamuko had with her brother aside from the fact that he sometimes abandoned her starving for work was the fact that his room after a brief period of time started to stink.

It had been around a month since Hamuko entered her brother's room and as she expected it was a total mess. The bed was a total mess with covers and blankets thrown over, pillows on the floor, polo shirts were hanging on lamp shades and a pair of pants for some reason was hanging from the chandelier.

"How the hell did that get there?!" the young girl looked at the chandelier as if it would give her some sort of answer. When it didn't she just sighed and decided to just pick up the laundry that was within her reach.

As she removed the obstructions on the floor she realized that the thing that had been smelling was a half-eaten burger under the bed and pizza that was used as a bookmark, it was a miracle that ants and other insects haven't invaded his room yet.

Hamuko was in the middle of sorting the laundry when she could hear her phone ring.

"Hello Hamu-chan?" it was Fuuka "Did you catch up with Iwasaki-san?"

Holding her phone in one ear and carrying the basket of clothes in the other "I didn't, Hidetoshi made me scrape off gum from under desks for running in the hallway" she groaned.

"That's horrible!" Fuuka gasped.

Hamuko sniffled "And just when I thought my day couldn't get worst I come home to see spoiled food in my brother's room and weeks' worth of laundry to clean"

"Your brother isn't home again?"

The redhead sighed "Yeah, he had to go to a funeral service in the States" she picked up a stinky sock "I'm soo asking him for a souvenir and then some"

"That sounds like a lot of trouble, do you need help?"

"No, I'm fine thanks for offering" she opened the washing machine and started dumping clothes and used sheets "I don't want your parents to get mad at you for sleeping over here again"

"If you say so" the teal-haired girl sounded unsure "Just call me when you need anything, I'll be having dinner now"

"Okay thanks for checking on me Fuuka"

"No problem" and with that, she hung up.

Hamuko put the phone in her short pocket (for once she actually changed out of her uniform) and started inspecting the clothes for dirt. While doing so there was something that caught her eye "Why are there rips here . . ." she said inspecting a black blazer with slash marks on the buttons and tears on the cuffs.

"Did he get into a fight or something?" she placed that in the washer "I'll ask him that . . ." her eyes widened at what she pulled out. It was a silk polo shirt with a giant red stain in the front "Wha . . . what is . . ." she lowered the shirt.

"Oh no . . ." she looked at the stains again "This probably . . . can't . . ." she then sniffed the stain ". . . This isn't spaghetti sauce . . ."

* * *

Minato was currently staying at the InterContinental as his flight was scheduled for ten the next day. He had just finished his shower and was now watching an episode of Homeland on his hotel suite.

Right on the glass coffee table in front of him was a calling card from the lady he had met earlier. According to the card, her name was Chidori Yoshino and behind the card was the word Strega. He was going to ask Igor sometime if he heard of the name.

While grabbing a glass of absinthe his phone was vibrating on the bar "Hello?"

"Yuki-san . . ." it was Kirijo "There's . . . are you busy right now?"

Pouring his glass "Not really"

"Well you see" she sighed "I have a target for you"

* * *

 **So . . . a super typhoon came over and pretty much flooded the region, caused landslides and disrupted the power source. Thankfully my family and I are safe from such disasters. Mining is bad and we should move on from gold.**

 **Thanks to Zia Jordan, Xakandan, Nicdragon8 and DraconicLeviathan for following and/or favoriting this story.**


	7. Été (Deuxième Partie)

**Warning: Hints or allusions to rape below for those weary of said topic please be warned.**

* * *

Despite being a hot summer day with the temperature being around thirty-five degrees in Tatsumi Port, Shinjiro Aragaki had a very bad cold.

"Arf!" wagging his fluffy tail in front of his master's bed was an albino Shiba Inu eagerly waiting for his breakfast.

The said owner was still in bed with a blanket over his head to block the very irritating rays of the morning and trying to ignore a piercing headache he was currently experiencing.

Again the dog barked.

Shinjiro let out a groan, maybe if he pretended to be sleeping Koromaru would just leave him be.

This time the dog whimpered, stopped wagging his tail and put his head on the floor.

Even without looking Shinji knew very well what his dog looked like and he hated the fact that every time he fell for the canine's trick. Deciding that his dog's happiness was more important than his internal struggles the man grumpily got out bed.

"Okay boy you win," he said glaring at the dog.

At the sight of his now awake master, Koromaru leapt in joy and went over, stood up and started licking his face.

Immediately Shinji's bad mood was lifted "Okay! Okay! I'll make breakfast" he laughed petting the dog and putting him down "You sneaky dog"

"Arf ~~~~!"

As soon as Shinji stood up, though his vision got blurry for a split second and his head felt light headed. He would have fallen back into bed if he didn't hold onto the wall for support.

Koromaru gave his owner a concerned look "Woof?"

"I'm . . . fine" he said after a few moments when he finally got a hold of his bearings "I don't think I can go to work today" he then slowly but surely made his way to the kitchen to prepare some breakfast.

The news was blaring on the TV on how today was the highest recorded temperature in Tatsumi Port for the past five years. Koromaru was wagging his tail as he saw the pretty weather reporter talk about high tides while Shinji proceeded to make egg & mango chutney flatbreads.

"As you can see the skies are clear there are no signs of any typhoon approaching making it perfect for fishing . . ."

*Click*

"Another thing about having a good boss is that he makes you understand the struggles of . . ."

*Click*

"BREAKING NEWS! This just infamous actress known for her role in the kid's show Featherman has been reported to be kidnapped. No details have been released yet as the story still develops . . ."

*Click*

"KYOSUKE! YOU'VE DEFILED MY FAMILY FOR TOO LONG!"

*Click*

"I Wanna Be So Free hatenkou Please !~~~~! Sou Free & Easy tsukame kono Dream~~~~~"

"Koromaru! Stop playing with the TV remote" Shinji said as he was rolling out the dough he had made out flour with a pinch of sea salt, four tablespoons of yoghurt and a tablespoon of olive oil.

The dog sniffed out the dough and immediately ran from the living room to the kitchen "Woof! Woof!" he barked wagging his tail.

"Hold on a second, will you?" it was in here where his cell phone started to ring "Boy go get the phone it's in my room"

"Woof!" the dog then again ran fast into the bedroom, as soon as the dog entered the room he planted his nose on the floor and sniffed out the phone, it was still ringing but he had no idea where it was coming from.

"Hey boy, hurry up!" Shinji yelled from the kitchen.

Eventually, Koromaru realized the ringing came from the bedside table, which sadly was too tall for the four-legged creature. Cocking his head the dog tried to think of a way to solve this problem.

Shinjiro was starting to wonder where his dog is when he heard a loud BANG! "What the heck . . ."

Walking dizzily with eyes facing different directions but with a still ringing cell phone on his mouth Koromaru stumbled into the kitchen.

This made the teacher do a facepalm "My dog is suffering from heat stroke"

* * *

"It's a pleasure meeting the great Detective Prince" the tallish man with the goatee extended his hand "I am Shuji Ikutsuki the Chairman of Kirijo Holdings and I shall be accompanying you in your visit to Gekkoukan"

Naoto politely took the man's hand, he seemed overly friendly for her taste "Thank you for your cooperation" she took her hand back "May I ask where President Kirijo is?"

Still keeping the cheery smile, he replied "Well she had some personal business to attend to, though she did extend an invitation for you to dine with her tonight or sometime during your investigation"

"I'll take note of that" the young detective's eyes went over to the view of island-wide school from the train "I don't think tonight would be a good time though"

"Understood" the man nodded "If you have any questions please feel free to ask"

Naoto quietly nodded and throughout the rest to the train ride remained in silence. She needed to be weary in her investigation since she didn't know how closely the Group was monitoring the investigation. According to the files, she read Ikutsuki was a man very loyal to the Kirijo's having worked for the company as early as during Kouetsu Kirijo's time. There were some rumours that Ikutsuki wasn't that pleased when Takeharu took over the company claiming the younger Kirijo was not a suited successor. She decided to take this bit of information with a grain of salt.

"Ah, it's been a while since I entered this school" the older man breathed in as the entered the gate "I went to school without my shoes one time. I got shoe-spended for a week."

"I have one request Chairman Ikutsuki," Naoto said as they walked in the school courtyard which she noted was quite empty "I wish to proceed to explore the school grounds alone if that is possible"

The Chairman rubbed the back of his neck "Well, I just wanted to make sure you don't get lost, the campus is quite large you see" he adjusted his glasses "One time I got lost I decided to stand by the lost & found corner"

Keeping a passive face "I've made sure to memorize the map of the school before coming here, I assure you I won't get lost"

Ikutsuki looked slightly disappointed "Oh is that so" he let out a deep sigh "Well if you need me I'll be the man sitting on a chair . . ." he waved his hand lazily.

Naoto watched the chairman go away before entering the main building of the school. Even she has to admit the school was quite seeing as it takes up an entire island on its own, then again the entirety of Tatsumi Port Island was the fact that it was a man-made island, one made and controlled by the Kirijo Group.

The young detective made her way around the complicated hallways, while she was very used to being in abandoned areas she found it weird to be roaming around a school with no students or teachers running about. What's even weirder was the fact that it wasn't even dark out heck it wasn't even lunchtime yet, but there was some eerie feel to the school.

"This is ridiculous" Naoto muttered to herself as she found the doorway heading for the school basement "A detective shouldn't be frightened by the most trivial things"

She slowly placed her hand on the knob and was not surprised to find the room lock. The door was a large metal door with several caution marks plastered on it, there was a tiny glass window on top but due to Naoto's short stature, she could not look through it.

The detective turned to the side and saw a keypad with a card slot which served as the door's security feature. "Hmm, that's a little too much protection for a mere school basement" she brought out her phone and dialled the chairman's number she heard around five rings before he answered.

When he answered the phone he seemed to have awoken from his nap "Ah yes Mister Shirogane, did you need anything?"

"You failed to unlock the very room I'm investigating" she tapped her foot "It appears I need a code and some form of identification"

"AH YES, that's what I have forgotten!" the man slapped his forehead "I apologize, why don't you wait for me in the entrance and let's see if I can open that door"

"You could have told . . ."

"Now I told you that you needed me, didn't I?" the Chairman did a chuckle "You know what they say: If there's a will, I want to be in it"

* * *

The moment Yukari opened her eyes confusion immediately hit her. Where the hell was she? Wasn't she at some fancy restaurant a few moments ago? Yes! The bathroom. She was at some bathroom with the guy who probably knew what happened to Iha.

The ceiling was made out of what was probably cotton designed with an intricate pattern of green peacock feathers around a golden frame. Everything in the room was set in the same pattern the walls, the bedsheets and the headboard.

Immediately Yukari thought that whoever owned the room was a tacky person or a real sociopath of some kind. The girl tried to move around the bed she was in and realized that her hands were tied behind her back.

She also realized that she was dressed in only her undergarments.

At once the brunette's face quickly went pale "WHAT THE HELL!?" she yelled at the top of her lungs.

She definitely needed to get out of there. After around 3 attempts she managed to sit up and tried to look around the room for a place to escape. She managed to stand up and went for the mirror to see if there were any marks the pervert who did this to her left. At once she felt embarrassed for her choice of underwear, a navy ombre lace push up bra and black mesh panties with white lace on them.

"Ohhh of all the times I have to wear this" she tried to place her palms on her crotch as though covering that part would save her some form of decency only to remember she was tied up.

This infuriated Yukari "That bastard, he's probably started taking pictures of me and gonna use that for blackmail material or something" she then let out a sigh "There goes my kid-friendly persona"

It was here that she heard knocking on the door and at once she felt goosebumps over her skin "Damn he's here" she whispered. Immediately she jumped into the bed and pretended to stay asleep.

With her eyes tightly closed she heard the door creak open and footsteps enter the room before closing the door. The steps went closer and closer to her until eventually reaching the bed. Even though she couldn't see she could bet that whoever did this to her was taking their time looking at their handiwork. She knew that it did something now things would go bad as she didn't have time to reach for a weapon to defend herself with.

Almost immediately she felt a cold hand run over her right leg and by an impulse she kicked.

"Aha, it seems that my idol is awake"

Yukari gulped still refusing to look at the person.

"Now now" the man moved closer to her face that his breath was felt in her ear "Don't worry I didn't do anything to you . . . yet"

Still not looking she growled "You really are a lowlife, going to all this trouble to get me just to get laid"

At this, the man chuckled "Oh, aren't you a cocky one?" he licked her neck which made Yukari feel even more disgusted. "To be honest I wasn't interested in getting Pink Argus but seeing as you know a little too much I guess it's safe to say I need to shut you up"

"So you did do something to Iha . . ." Yukari grit her teeth.

Rubbing his hand over her thigh "That little girl didn't know when to shut up, I told her I would pay for her abortion but the damn slut wanted to keep the kid and asked me for a monthly allowance for taking care of it. So in a way, I did take care of it"

Yukari tried to move away from the disgusting man but his grip on her was too strong "What are you gonna do to me then?" she tried to hide the fear in her voice "Gonna make me look like I committed suicide too?"

A chuckle escaped his lips "Oh don't worry, I have even better plans for you"

* * *

Koromaru had finally recovered from hitting the bedside table and saw his owner bearing a frown on his face as he put his phone down.

"Arf?" the dog cocked its head asking what was his owner's problem.

The man sighed "It's nothing" he then resumed to make flatbreads in silence. When he placed the bread in the oven Shinji exited the kitchen and collapsed on the sofa.

Koromaru immediately jumped next to his master and started licking his face.

Shinji smiled and stroked his dog's head "Are you worried about me boy?"

"Ruff!" the dog barked while wagging his tail.

Immediately the smile faded "Well apparently some parent got pissed at how I treated their kid and I'm gonna meet with the principal next week to talk about it" he then coughed "All I did was make the kid redo his pancake it wasn't that bad"

"Woof!"

He snorted "I'm glad you agree with me"

In here the doorbell started to ring and at once Koromaru went on defensive mode and ran for the door ready to attack whoever was behind the door.

Shinji just shook his head which only made him feel hazier, it was a good thing summer classes were cancelled that day because he just wanted to head back to bed and sleep.

Koromaru kept growling at the entrance while Shinji just trudged his way to open the door. He looked at the monitor to see who was there and for a moment he froze. He rubbed his eyes to check if he was seeing things. The person was still there and this time he was looking at the camera with some sick smile.

Shinji groaned and decided to just open the door.

"Took you long enough to open the door" his visitor smirked.

Another cough escaped Shinji "What the fuck do you want Jin?"

Ignoring Shinji and Koromaru's unwarm welcome the visitor entered the apartment "I was just checking on you, making sure you're adjusting normally to society"

"I'm doing perfectly *achoo* . . . fine" Shinji went for the living room for tissues, he was a decent human being to not wipe his snot with his t-shirt thank you very much.

Jin eyed him "You don't seem to be doing well"

"I don't feel so fucking well either" Shinji blew hard on the tissue "You didn't tell me what you're doing here"

Koromaru eyed the glasses-wearing man but did not bark just kept a low growl at him.

"Oh come on Koromaru" Jin seemed kinda hurt at how the dog was treating him "I used to feed you steak when your owner was gone"

The dog kept his glare.

"Your dog doesn't know when to be grateful huh" Jin rolled his eyes as he sat on the orange and white leather sofa "So how's your teaching job?"

Wiping his nose "Of course you know I have a teaching job" Shinji tossed the tissue in the bin "Are you guys really low on men?"

Jin crossed his legs "Well you were always direct to the point, yes, we are definitely low on men"

"Couldn't you just replace them?" Shinji checked his bread "A lot of mercenaries would do anything for a paycheck"

"That's what I told him but apparently none of them seemed to fit the bill" Jin shrugged, "I told him it's a matter of having the proper numbers, I mean it's not like cash is a problem"

"What happened to your old army anyway?" Shinji brought out his mittens to get his bread "Weren't they like ex-SWAT or something?"

Jin clapped his palms together "They claimed to be but seeing as they all died, we tend to wonder if their claims are true"

Shinji placed the bread on a plate bringing out some rosemary and other leaves to sprinkle "All of them?"

Jin nodded.

"At the same time?"

"Yep"

Shinji whistled "Wow"

"Yeah" Jin swung his leg "And guess who did it?"

"Velvet Room?"

"Exactly" Jin raised his chin "There were two of them, one guy who went in and another sniper"

"Koromaru! Come on breakfast ready" Shinji placed a plate of bread on the floor. After one last glance at Jin, the Shiba-Inu sped for the kitchen to eat his meal.

"Why does your dog suddenly hate me?" Jin frowned at the dog.

Shinji shrugged "Dunno, he's getting mood changes lately, probably needs to get laid at some point"

"Probably"

Taking a bite off the bread "So, does Takaya want me back?"

"He's not forcing you or anything" Jin tapped his foot "He's merely extending an invitation"

"And if I'm not interested?"

"You haven't even considered it"

"I already made up my mind" Shinji put down the bread "There are hundreds of guys like me out there it's just a matter of knowing where to look"

Jin stood up "Are you sure you're satisfied at where you are now?"

"I am-"

Jin stomped his foot "No you're not! Once you've had a taste for blood you know you can never look bad? Do you think you'll be satisfied at having a boring life teaching? Shinji you're better than that and you know it! You're a cold-blooded killer through and through and no matter what you do nothing could change it!"

Koromaru looked up from his meal and started barking.

"Is that what you came to say?" Shinji's jaw clenched.

Panting from his rant Jin replied "Yeah, I think that's all of it"

"Then I want you to leave . . ."

"You better think-"

"I SAID LEAVE!" Shinji yelled pointing at the door.

Jin's face twisted but he didn't say anything and left without a sound.

As soon as they were left alone Shinji let out a sigh.

"Woof?" Koromaru reached out his paw and tapped his master's leg asking if he was okay.

Closing his eyes "Don't worry boy" he opened them again "I think I need another cup of coffee"

Koromaru whimpered.

"I'm fine boy" Shinji said pouring a cup "Just a little agitated that's all"

* * *

Afternoon breeze hit Minato as he returned to Tatsumi Port Island; it was around four-thirty when he came back from Los Angeles. Jetlag was something he should be used at by now as he's been flying almost every month, yet here he was feeling like he should go to the toilet for the third time in a row.

"Yep Arisato very professional" he groaned as he entered his car tossing the several tissues and coat he wore at the back "I really need to see a doctor after this"

He was about to return to the highway after barfing in a gas station when his car phone rang "Arisato" he answered.

"Welcome back to Japan Yuki-san" came the always perky voice of Elizabeth "I hope you had a safe trip"

"Just the usual Liz" Minato said driving in the highway.

"Oh dear" Elizabeth sounded concerned "Did you get sick again? Are you not taking the medicine I've given to you?"

The medicine in question was a bunch of strange pills Elizabeth got from her trip to Tanzania. He actually did try the pills but all it gave him was fatigue, cramps and back pain for a whole week.

"Uhh . . . I probably left them at home" he clenched his jaw.

"I see, please take them as soon as you get home" Elizabeth then went back to her business tone "Now, I just called to say your client's termination request has been approved. The victim's name is Masato Aono, forty-seven years of age, Japanese, a shareholder in Kirijo Group head of their Nuclear Department and currently lives in #391 Mazurka Corner, Tatsumi Port Island. He has been accused of the disappearance and suicide of well-known idol Iha Haniko, embezzlement and currently a suspect, but not officially, for the kidnapping of Featherman actress Yukari Takeba"

"Is he still in Japan?" Minato asked setting his GPS for the address given to him.

He heard typing "From our records he's still in Tatsumi Port, your client failed to provide a DNA sample so we couldn't pinpoint his exact location"

"I'll check his house first then, thank you Elizabeth"

"Good luck with your assignment Yuki-san" and with that she hung up.

Minato sighed "Great another kidnapping"

* * *

When Naoto entered the Gekkoukan High basement she didn't have many expectations on what to find there. When she was looking for blueprints of the school online and in her grandfather's records there was no data regarding the basement of the school. When she asked the police for the previous case even they couldn't give her one because according to them the whole basement was too large to map out.

And indeed the basement was quite large. In fact, it looked more like a warehouse than a basement.

"I relish the fact that I've mustard the strength to ketchup to you" the Chairman was really into puns, wasn't he?

Naoto bit her lip to try and stop herself from saying anything rude and just looked around. There were several garages with large numbers written on them in red paint. The floor was made of cement and the walls were of brick material, there were several metal halide lamps on the ceiling and the temperature underground was extremely low compared to the summer heat upstairs.

"Exactly what is this basement used for?" Naoto asked the chairman.

The man adjusted his spectacles "Well, this island is quite old you see, dating back to around the tenth century. Before this basement was used as a sort of hiding place during the war particularly when Japan was being bombed thus why it's so big. Soon though after Kirijo Group turned this into a school in 1918 it became a sort of archive room for school records. Then every so and so years we renovate the school to accommodate for the developing times and the school administration decided to store the old chairs and other paraphernalia here."

Staring at the rows and rows of storage units Naoto blinked "So you mean to say almost a hundred years of history is stored down here?"

"Pretty much, though to be honest it probably is best to throw some items" Ikutsuki sneezed at the amount of dust "I don't think we need to keep all one hundred wooden desks from the seventies"

"Would you mind telling me where Kirijo-san's body was found?" Naoto asked after taking several pictures around the area.

Ikutsuki rubbed his hands together "Hoo, I've forgotten how unbearably cold it is here. I think it should be near storage number 87b"

Naoto stared at the garage next to her "This is 16c"

"Oh dear" the glasses man's shoulders sagged "Time to go jogging again I suppose"

"Don't you have a scooter or something to get around in here?" Naoto looked around under the stairs they came down from earlier.

Ikutsuki rubbed his chin "We probably do, but I really don't remember where they put that bloody thing"

"Is it this thing?" Naoto said pulling out a white cloth only to cover herself in dust in the process and going into a coughing fit.

"Seriously I thought the police cleaned up after they did their investigation here" Ikutsuki rolled his shoulders "No wonder they were asking for a box of cup noodles and some hot tea"

After recovering from a coughing fit the detective was able to see the bright red golf cart before her "This thing better work"

"My job at this concrete plant seems to get harder and harder." Ikutsuki sighed as he tried to fit himself in the tiny golf cart.

Naoto due to her short nature managed to fit in quite perfectly "Are you feeling claustrophobic in there Chairman?"

"Well, claustrophobic people are more productive thinking outside the box" Ikutsuki quipped.

The detective just sighed, thankfully the key was still on the engine and it seems there was enough gas "How fast do you think this cart can go sir?"

"I beg your pardon?!"

"Let's test it shall we?" and with that Naoto pressed hard on the gas pedal.

The Chairman held unto the bars for dear life as the golf car sped as fast as it could. "WOULD YOU SLOW DOWN FOR A MOMENT SHIROGANE SAAAAAAANNNNNNNN!"

Having driven a formula one car around two times in her life the young girl wasn't at all fazed by the speed of this golf cart. Sure it was way faster than any other cart she had driven but she definitely experienced faster.

It was only after a few minutes when they finally reached storage number 87b. Naoto got off the cart easily and did a few stretches "Are you, alright sir?"

Ikutsuki, on the other hand, was on the floor trying to get a balance of the world "I'm . . . slightly functional . . ." he said waving a shaky hand before collapsing on the floor again.

"I'll . . . let you rest for a moment then Chairman" Naoto slowly backed away from the obvious car sick man. She turned around and placed her attention of the storage unit. Indeed right in front of the garage were police tapes and a sketch of the body on the floor. She didn't know if they cleaned the area yet but there were still remnants of blood near the head.

"So he was facing this storage unit" Naoto went over to the said unit and noticed that it wasn't locked. Mustering up her strength she managed to lift open the garage door.

Inside the storage area were several cargo boxes that filled the room "Chairman, did the police inspect the contents of these boxes?"

Still lying on the floor in a fetal position ". . . I . . . umm think they did, they were mostly school records from the early years of the school"

"Is that so" Naoto brought out her camera and took pictures just to check and compare with the police photos in case they rearranged the boxes when they placed them back in. "Hmm" she whispered to herself "This is either some very well planned out murder or one done on a whim"

* * *

After calling Rio several times to meet with her Hamuko had finally convinced her fellow tennis player to have tea with her at Chagall Café. While waiting for her friend (well if they are friends right now) her mind wandered off.

She didn't call him immediately because she didn't know exactly what to ask. Did he get into a fight? Was it some overdue Halloween costume he forgot to throw out? Maybe he was asked to kill a pig during their company trip or something?

But in the back of her mind, Hamuko knew that it was something else, she knew what he was capable of if he was angry. She knew that he could go violent if he wanted to, but didn't he promise her he wouldn't do anything like that again?

"Can I have another cup please!" Hamuko raised her hand at the waiter.

"Another Short Macchiato coming up!"

"Another?" Hamuko turned to see Rio who was dressed in a white sleeved shirt along with a grey vest, black pants and red sneakers. "How many cups have you had Arisato?"

Hamuko raised three fingers up.

This made the girl have a concerned look "Are you okay?"

The redhead just smiled "I'm fine, have a seat, coffee is on me"

"If you say so . . ." Rio took a seat across from Hamuko and looked at the menu "Umm . . . I'll have the Flat White"

"One Flat White coming up!"

The two just waited for their orders in silence with Hamuko staring at the window and Rio trying to speak but only stopping herself and covering her mouth.

"Here are your orders girls" the waiter served their drinks and gave them a wink before leaving.

It was Rio who finally spoke "I . . . think I should apologize for what happened yesterday" she squeezed her eyes shut "I was being selfish saying that you didn't care about the team. I should remember that you also have-" the young girl's apology was cute when out of nowhere Hamuko started laughing.

Rio just stared at her friend very confused.

Hamuko herself didn't know why she was laughing it wasn't a heartful laugh, there was nothing funny to laugh about yet here she was cackling like a maniac.

People were starting to stare at them and Rio was wondering if they were going to get kicked out of the café.

Luckily Hamuko had slowly stopped her laughing.

"Hamuko . . ." Rio reached out her hand "Are you . . . ah!"

It was then that tears started to flow "I'm sorry . . . Rio-chan . . ." she sniffled "Can we talk . . . some other time?"

At this Rio stood up "Hamuko what's wrong? Is it . . ." she lowered her head "Is it what happened yesterday?"

"No it's not" the redhead tried to wipe her tears with her hands "It's nothing really . . ." she tried to smile "I don't know what's wrong with me"

Rio immediately grabbed the tissue on the table and reached over to wipe the tears off her club-mate's face "Are you sure you're okay? Do you want me to call your brother?"

"No . . ." Hamuko stared at her coffee cup "Please don't"

* * *

The house was a three-story brick walled house with white windows and two chimneys on top. It looked like a normal English home from the 19th Century making it stick out from the other homes in the neighbourhood which mostly consisted of modern Japanese styles.

Minato decided that it was a bit too early for him to try going through the chimney, Christmas doesn't come until a couple of months. From what he could see there wasn't that much security. The police haven't gotten to him because there wasn't much evidence to say Aono did kidnap Takeba.

"Well looks like I'm barging in the house," Minato said as he entered Aono's garden which was full of lavender and tulips. If he didn't know any better he would have presumed Aono was married to some housewife from New Jersey and had twins dressed in matching blue cardigans just from looking at the garden.

The white glass door was unlocked which made him put his guard up. He entered the house and was greeted by a 20th Century English lantern that hung above a 19th Century French round centre table that had a marble dragon on the centre surrounded by books. The flooring was white and black Burgundy stone, the walls were painted gold with the letter 'M' patterned on it and the ceiling was full of hexagon shaped marble tiles.

"Anglophile much" Minato commented as he checked the other rooms and noted that they all had different painted walls and the only thing consistent in the house were the marble ceilings.

He was snooping around the breakfast room when he heard something move. He turned around and saw a girl who was scantily clad in her underwear holding a glass bowl full of roses over her head.

"Umm . . ." Minato pointed at her "Yukari Takeba I presume?"

"Are you with him?" the girl panted "Cause if you are I'll throw this bowl without hesitation"

He blinked "You're technically hesitating by asking-"

"WHO ARE YOU!?"

"SHHH" Minato placed a finger over his mouth "Don't yell! He'll know we're here!"

"Tell me who you are then" the girl growled.

Minato sighed "Put down the roses then"

"What if you're gonna attack me?"

"Aren't you're arms getting tired holding them up?"

At that, her arms did start to shake "Smartass"

"Look, I'm not here to hurt you" the blue-haired man raised his arms "I'm just here to deal with the guy who kidnapped you"

Her arms lowered "So you're the police?"

"Not exactly . . ."

Her arms went up.

"But I'm still here trying to rescue you"

The girl still seemed unsure "Are you sure about that? What if you're actually that bastard's guard or something?"

"I've walked almost the entire house and nobody seemed to have stopped me" it was in here that he felt a barrel on his neck.

"Sorry in being late" Aono aimed the hunting rifle at Minato "My my, so you've finally managed to cut yourself from those wires"

"You bastard" Yukari was about to throw the bowl.

"I wouldn't throw that if I were you" Aono tapped the barrel against Minato's neck "I'll shoot the moment you throw so put that bowl down"

Yukari begrudgingly did and also put her arms up.

"That's better" Aono then lifted Minato's jacket and pulled out his Sig Sauer from his belt and placed it on the breakfast table "I want you two to face the wall now!"

Reluctantly the two with their hands still up faced the Prussian blue painted walls that smelled as though a snake peed on it.

"What are you gonna do now Mr You-were-supposed-to-save-me" Yukari grumbled.

"Let me guess you're the one the lovely Mitsuru sent" Aono smirked "I must say I expected better than seeing as you obliterated eight men in one go"

"Well there were two of us then" Minato turned to face the man "And I was safely hidden in the warehouse holding a sniper"

Aono clicked his tongue "You aren't you cocky now, are you?"

Yukari's eyes widened "Wait, Mitsuru sent you?"

"You know even if you do kill me and this girl you're still gonna get arrested or something" Minato said while scratching his leg "I mean not only do you have to hide two bodies but you have to think of a really good excuse for Miss Kirijo to not suspect you seeing as they're probably investigating you're . . . financial records as per say"

"Oh I knew that I wasn't gonna win anyway" Aono had a sinister smile on his face "That's why instead of me the only one losing everything I might as well take a few things from her, it's just a happy coincidence that Miss Takeba walked right in front of me"

Minato blinked then faced Yukari "So this whole thing is your fault then"

"HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW HE WAS A PERVERTED PSYCHOPATH!?" the brunette yelled in response.

"Shut up!" the two-faced Aono to see he was holding a smartphone in his hand "Now let's see what Kirijo will feel when I send her a video of her best friend being shot to death while looking hopeless"

Yukari grit her teeth "You really are sick"

"Well most people in suits are" Minato shrugged "Trust me half the people I murder go coco after going loco for the cash"

The actress gave the blue-haired man a look "But aren't you wearing a suit as well?"

"Yep that means I'm equally insane" and in one swift move Minato crouched down and pulled out a second gun from under his pants and shot Aono's phone.

Aono's gasped in shock as the bullet not only shot through his phone but even managed to hit his neck in the process.

"GET DOWN!" Minato pulled down Yukari by the arm to the floor.

Despite the amount of blood that was coming out of his neck the businessman still tried to shot though due to the fact he was using only one hand and he never really held a firearm most of his life he just kept hitting the ceiling.

"Stay flat on the floor!" Minato told the girl who just meekly nodded and covered her head with her hands as bullets started firing from everywhere.

Still, on the ground, Minato then fired another three shots at Aono, two hitting his chest and another in the head.

Aono eventually fell to the ground dropping his gun and obliterated phone in the process. Slowly Minato stood up and went over the fallen man to make sure he was dead, judging from the unmoving face of shock and amount of blood loss it was a pretty safe bet that he was.

"Well, that's it . . . you've got to be kidding me"

Yukari was holding the other Sig Sauer Aono got from him awhile back "Tell me . . ." she said shakingly aiming the gun at him "Who the hell are you?"

* * *

 **Really should read more action novels. You know that feeling when you have this perfect scene in your head but can't describe it cause you don't know half the words to use? Yeah, should read more action. Any one has suggestions?**

 **Thank you to SilverKitsuneGrlAngel for following and adding this story to your favorites really appreciate it :3**


	8. Septembre

A headache had been ploughing Shinji's for quite a while now and no amount of sleep could get rid of it. Sadly, when he checked his medicine cabinet, he realized that he hasn't stocked it in a few months. This led him to take out his loyal dog and dragging his feet to the nearest pharmacy for ibuprofen, aspirin and every other legal over the counter drug. And currently, he was now at a convenience store shopping for beer because whatever god up there knows he needs one badly right now.

While Shinji was staring into the store's collection Koromaru was right next to him whimpering.

Still debating on whether he should get Kirin or Sapporo "What do you want boy?"

Again, the dog whimpered.

He faced his dog "Okay what do you . . . oh not again"

Right on Koromaru's mouth was what seems to be a Featherman action figure, in particular, the Pink Argus.

Shinjiro sighed "Fine, we'll add that to your collection . . ."

The dog leapt in joy and wagged his tail happily trotting to the cash register with his purchase.

"I can't believe I'm getting whipped by a dog" Shinji the grabbed a six-pack of Kirin and went for the counter.

"I didn't know dogs shopped here," said some punk by the register wearing a grey jersey shirt under a red bomber vest, black sweatpants, black sneakers and bonnet with a knitted bonnet.

The cashier, a young college student named Kenji Tomochika, smiled "Yeah, that lil guy keeps buying figurines and random things like towels and back scratchers"

Koromaru put down the figurine and barked.

"Cheeky guy aren't you?" the customer bent down and petted the dog.

Shinji approached the two "Getting a little friendly here"

The cashier guy raised his hands "Come on Shinji, you don't have to be overprotective over your dog"

The guy turned to face him and he was able to get a good look at his face, he had a pale-ish face, dark blue eyes and a matching dyed blue bang popping out from the bonnet "So this is your dog?"

For some reason, Shinji felt like he should know this person "He doesn't get friendly towards strangers"

The guy smirked "Is that so" he turned to the dog and smiled "Then maybe we've met before"

"Probably" Shinji had a bad headache right now and was too grumpy for a small chat so he immediately cut in the line and dropped the six-pack at the register "How much for the Featherman figure?"

Kenji sighed as he scanned the six-pack "Geez you could just wait your turn"

"Its fine" the bonnet kid continued to fondle the fluffy dog "This guy seems to like me a lot"

While taking out his wallet he took a good look at the stranger, the longer he looked at him the more he felt he looked very familiar "Excuse me, are you sure we haven't met before?"

The stranger stopped rubbing the dog and stood up "I don't think we have" he shrugged.

"Hmm . . . is that so" Shinji paid the register then turned to his dog "Come on boy we're going home"

The dog looked a bit sad but gave one last bark to the nice stranger before picking up his figurine and leaving with his master.

Kenji hung his head "Sorry about Shinji, he may have a grumpy exterior but he's a generally chill guy"

The customer placed his shopping at the register which included a phone cord, scotch tape, bandages, pack of sanitary napkins and a pack of Gold Flake cigarettes "So he's a regular here as well?"

"Kinda, though to be honest it's his dog who's our valued customer" the cashier chuckled at his own joke as he scanned the items "So . . ." he raised the napkins "How's your sister?"

"I think you can tell how she is right now," the blunet said as he brought out his wallet.

Seemingly not taking a hint Kenji pursued "So, is she free this weekend? I may have tickets to a nice movie she'll like?"

"She's under-aged and uninterested" the customer gave him a 10,000-yen bill.

"Come on Minato-kun" Kenji nudged the older guy "I promise I won't do her wrong"

The older Arisato raised a brow "You try living with her on the height of her period and if you survive, I'll put a down payment on your wedding"

Kenji snorted "It can't be that bad"

"She bit out a part of her mattress in the midst of her rage" Minato replied in a deadpan tone.

This made the college student blink "Well it's . . . stress?"

"And she has Devil Wears Prada on loop"

"That's not a bad movie"

"She tried to kill me with red heels in my sleep" Minato raised a finger "And she doesn't even have red heels, she stole them from our neighbour on the floor below us"

Kenji opened his mouth to say something only to close it ". . . Are you sure you're raising her right?"

* * *

"You've actually met the famous No.3?" Jin gave the girl seated in front of him a doubtful stare. They were currently seated at a private room in an underground club in Shibuya. The room was strangely covered in wooden furniture with several tribal masks on the wall and the ceiling was filled with book covers, the room looked like a library of some sorts than a VIP lounge in a nightclub.

Chidori was, as usual, making every other Gothic-Lolita from Harajuku looking like little girls from Catholic school. She was dressed in a full black latex Lolita that somehow managed to show off the shape of her body at the same time hiding it. She wore her usual choker and ribbons and donned dark black lipstick, silver eyeshadow and of course a ring that doubles as a tiny dagger. "Yes, it was quite nice talking to him"

Jin, on the other hand, wore a large lime coloured trench coat, a pair of jeans and black boots with his ever-present suitcase close by him. "How do you know it's even him" the glasses man twirled sipped his pint of bitter ale. "The people who usually get a good look of his face end up dead"

"That's a bit of an exaggeration" Chidori seemed to be more interested in her nails than whatever they were talking about earlier "People have seen him but not up close, but according to the rumours in the underground he's said to have dark blue hair, and I don't think someone who works as an incognito killer would risk dying their hair as noticeable as that"

The man wasn't fully convinced but he could understand that logic "So what did you do?"

"I gave him my number" she lifted her teacup which had Armagnac.

"You . . ." Jin blinked "Why? I doubt a Velvet plebe would be interested in working for us" he said bitterly.

Sipping her drink "It was for personal reasons" a little smirk escaped her lips "You rarely see good looking men like him in the field"

"I don't think he'll like what you're doing" Jin glared at her "Trying to get it on with the enemy"

Chidori kept her emotionless stare "You should loosen up sometimes, all work no play makes Jin a dull boy"

"I'm a boy with priorities" Jin slammed his drink on the wooden table "I don't go mess around giving random assassins my number"

The redhead waved her hand dismissively "You really are no fun at parties"

"She has a point there"

Immediately both of them looked at the recent visitor who entered the room.

Jin immediately stood up "Takaya"

Dressed in a white tailored suit, long platinum blonde hair wrapped around a wired headband and an ever so pleasant eerie smile on the man greeted his teammates "Now what is it that you two were discussing before I came in"

"It's just mindless chit chat" Chidori responded.

Rubbing his chin, the man's yellow-eyed lay upon Jin "Is that true?"

Jin looked away "Apparently Chidori here gave her card to someone from the Velvet Room"

"Is that so?" this perked Takaya's interest "And how did that go?"

Sipping her drink "He hasn't called"

This made Jin roll his eyes "For all, we know Velvet Room could be at our tails right now"

"Now Jin, don't be hasty" the blonde man went over the goth Lolita and lifted her chin "So tell me what have you done?"

While her expression was emotionless it was noted that her eyes were widened slightly "I think Jin's overreacting, he's always been too cautious"

"That's because you don't know how they operate" Jin tsked.

"Neither do you" Chidori replied coolly.

Takaya removed his finger "Now you two, I've invited you to celebrate" he placed an arm around Jin.

Jin gave him a look "Why would we celebrate, we just lost a dozen men and apparently, Aono is dead"

"Well, that's quite unfortunate" Takaya didn't seem to have a care "But you know what they say, a little sacrifice for the greater good"

Chidori raised her teacup "For the greater good"

"At least someone here seems to be in the spirit of things" Takaya placed his mouth on Jin's ear "Now let's relax if we rush things and get too serious things will eventually fall apart"

Jin seemed weary "Does this mean you have a plan?"

At this, the blond let out a laugh "Oh, who needs plans these days" he patted his subordinate in the back "What makes everything better is the spontaneity of it all"

"You always did like living on the edge" Chidori quipped.

A tiny smile escaped Takaya's lips "That I do" he then released Jin and took a seat on one of the wooden benches "So did you have a chat with our old friend?"

Jin crossed his arms "I don't think he's coming back anytime soon, he wasn't interested"

Takaya hummed "Is that so? Well it's his loss then"

"So you aren't going to convince him to come back?" Chidori asked.

"He'll come back in his own time" Takaya faced Chidori "So who's this contact you have with the Velvet Room?"

* * *

Did hospitals always have this dreadful feeling? Mitsuru thought as she walked into Port Island Hospital on a Saturday afternoon. She currently wore a long-sleeved peach coloured Marni wrap dress, a pair of Won Hundred Marit corduroy boots, a Boon the Shop Checked Cashmere-Wool Belted Coat and holding a black Stella McCartney Falabella Reversible Tote bag.

She could feel a couple of eyes on her as she boarded the elevator to the fourth floor. She always boarded the lift alone may it be to her office or on a simple shopping spree Mitsuru always rode by herself except with her security or maid.

Would she consider Yuki-san as security?

"Come in" she heard the sore sounding voice of her dear friend.

Mitsuru had been feeling a great amount of guilt for the past few weeks. She had been too naïve in handling her professional and personal affairs it seems. If she could have handled the situation with Aono then things wouldn't have escalated the way they did. She should have known the members of her board much better, who knows what other crimes the other did behind her and her father's back.

She needed to be better at her job. She needed to develop the steel heart her grandfather and those before him bore when they were heads of the organization. She remembered the immediate remorse she felt when she signed the Termination Request. Was this really the worth of human life? She recalled thinking as she stared at the paper before her. How can a mere university student like her have the right to take away someone's life?

Yukari's voice awoke her from her thoughts "It's good to see you" the brunette didn't offer a smile but her eyes seem gentle, meaning she was just relieved to see her.

Mitsuru gave a smile and sat down on a seat next to Yukari's bed "I should be the one saying that"

The room was simple, grey walls, white tiled ceilings, oak floors, a sink on the left side of the room, a large TV in front of the bed, a grey sofa on one corner and a large green lounge chair right next to the patient's bed.

A silence passed between the two girls. Mitsuru was seated properly with her palms rested on her lap while Yukari seemed slightly irritated at the IV on her arm.

"I have a lot of questions," Yukari said after a while.

Removing her Garrett Leight Hampton sunglasses "You may ask away"

"Who was that guy?" Yukari had a serious look on her face "The one who . . . saved me" there was some bitterness in how she said that one word.

"He . . . is someone who works for me," Mitsuru said in a calm manner "Contractually" she added.

The actress leered at her "You hire assassins?"

The redhead sighed "His main priority was to get you out, if killing Aono was needed to achieve that objective then it's something he must do"

Yukari looked away "Well, I guess it's my fault I got pulled in in the first place" she gripped her bedsheets "I basically just pranced right in front of him"

"I also have a part in that" Mitsuru moved her fingers in her lap "I was on the verge of firing him but I seemed to have been trying to let him down easy than just getting things over with"

"So what other things has he done aside from being a disgusting pig," Yukari said disgustingly.

Mitsuru kept her mouth straight "He was embezzling funds behind our back, among other shady trades. He wanted to ensure the power plant stayed open to satisfy some friends of his from the yakuza"

"I see . . ." Yukari faced Mitsuru "That guy you hired . . ." she frowned "He didn't have to shoot me"

"He told me you were trying to shoot him"

It was in here were the actress raised her voice "WELL WHOWOULDN'T AT A SITUATION LIKE THAT!" she yelled "I just got . . . used . . ." she growled "By some disgusting pig and by the time I managed to escape some other random guy appears out of nowhere and all of a sudden I get threatened with a gun then again said kidnapper dies right in front me!" the girl panted heavily after that outburst.

Mitsuru could do nothing but bow her head "I'm sorry, this wouldn't . . . shouldn't have happened"

Yukari closed her eyes and leaned against the pillows supporting her "I just wanted to get that out of my chest"

The Kirijo nodded.

"I'm not mad at you Mitsuru" Yukari clarified "If anything I'm more pissed at that one guy you hired and that stupid restaurant selling raw food"

Mitsuru chuckled "You should have just asked them to cook the liver"

Yukari's eyes widened "THEY HAD THAT OPTION AND DIDN'T BOTHER SAYING ANYTHING ABOUT IT!?"

"This is why I don't let you in such establishments" the former president did her signature closed eyes with smirk look "I only go to places like that with people I'm not particularly fond of"

Again, the brunette gagged "I'm never going in a place like that again"

Mitsuru tried to keep her smile but it faltered "Again I'm sorry about what happened" she grabbed her best friend's hand "I really feel like I failed you, if I didn't know what time of sick man Aono was none of this . . ."

"You're doing it again" Yukari sighed "Mitsuru . . . you can't keep taking the blame on things you clearly have no control of" she gripped her hands "It may . . . be terrible but . . . in the end, it's not your fault"

In here Mitsuru's voice lost its strength, she wanted to let out her frustrations on her best friend but she stopped herself. Yukari had just experienced what was probably the most traumatizing experience she ever had, she didn't need to add to her stress. "I'm still sorry," she said "Don't worry about the hospital bills and the press I'll take care of it"

Yukari gave her friend a look "Are you sure you're okay? You seem exhausted"

Putting on a fake smile "Well, juggling college life and handling a corporation is not an easy feat" she stood up and fixed her skirt "One last thing, though I'm sure you already know, leave out the fact about Ma . . . my bodyguard's involvement"

The brunette pursed her lips "Some bodyguard you have, don't worry I think I can come up with a believable story"

"Thank you" Mitsuru put on her shades.

Yukari faced the large window in her room which gave a view of Gekkoukan High "You know you should be worried about Junpei than me, who knows what he's telling the press about my kidnapping"

* * *

The Kirijo Estate is exactly what Naoto imagined it would be. The limestone house was two floors with large glass windows showing off the dining room, the house looked more European than Japanese, which Naoto noted was a trend among the wealthy here in Tatsumi Port.

As she walked on the cobblestone pathway into the house the detective adjusted her tie. She wore a Hugo Boss Blue Nordon Slim-Fit Birdseye Wool Blazer over a Ralph Lauren button-down shirt, Boglioli trousers, Brunello Cucinelli Brushed-Suede Derby Shoes and lastly an Anderson and Sheppard Grosgrain-Trimmed Felt Hat.

She knocked on the wooden doors and after a few moments, a young maid opened it.

"You must be Shirogane-san" the young woman offered a smile as she allowed the detective to enter "Would you mind if I take your hat, sir?"

Naoto raised a palm "That won't be necessary, I prefer wearing it even indoors if that's okay"

The maid nodded "Certainly sir" she then gestured her arms to what was probably the living room "Now why don't you relax sir, dinner will be served shortly"

The living room had three of its walls covered in oak wood and the fireplace wall being covered with stones and family portraits. The floor was made of dark mahogany which matched with the leather furniture and antique tables and lamps around the room. In a sense, the room almost reminded Naoto of her grandfather's office than a living room.

While the maid went for the kitchen to get some refreshments Naoto paid attention to the portraits above the fireplace. The largest photo at front a centre was a portrait of Takeharu Kirijo sitting on a leather chair with a red-haired woman (probably his wife) standing behind him placing one hand on her husband, their daughter (who was probably seventeen at the picture) was seating on the floor with her head rested on her father's lap. Out of the three, the only one who was actually smiling was Mitsuru as her father held a stern face and the mother looking . . . frail.

"You're probably wondering where my mother is" Naoto turned around and saw the owner of the house enter the living room. Naoto may align herself as a cross-dressing straight woman but she had to admit, Miss Kirijo knew how to dress up.

Mitsuru wore a silk black Maison Margiela gown that despite its simplicity showed off the assets of its wearer effectively from the low v-neck showing a bit of her cleavage to the visible back. The woman's vibrant hair was let out and curled for the occasion and her dark red lipstick almost made it look like she was going to seduce her lover tonight, not have dinner with an investigator.

Unless . . . that was her strategy.

"If I am correct" Naoto tried to keep her composure "She's abroad?"

The Kirijo heiress walked towards her like a jazz singer singing her signature number "Yes" she smiled and offered her hand "Mitsuru Kirijo, but I assume you already know"

Naoto took the hand, even her fingers were long and feminine "Naoto Shirogane, but you probably know me too"

Mitsuru nodded "I've heard a few stories about you"

The detective took a seat on one of the leather couches "I could say the same for your family"

"Well, it is your job" she paced around the room "Would you like to ask me questions now or should we wait till after dinner?"

Crossing her legs and placing her palms on her lap "Whichever you deem most comfortable with Miss Kirijo" Naoto replied.

"If that's the case" the redhead ran a finger on the stone fireplace "Maybe after dinner, the night is still young after all"

Naoto took a look at the large window behind her "It's a full moon tonight"

* * *

Drinking and driving was a recipe for disaster and any normal person knows that, even Junpei. Which was why Junpei never bothered learning how to drive knowing full well that if he did, he would be a walking disaster sober or not. Yet, when he decided to coach his alma mater's baseball team one of the responsibilities, he sadly has been driving the team around.

It may be a miracle but from the one year, he started driving he had never been involved in a traffic incident. He never got parking tickets, though he does fight with people in the highway from time to time, all in all, he still had a clean record.

But you know what they say, there's a first time for everything.

"Iori are you sure you're alright?" asked one of the PE teachers Mr Satoruii "You had a bit too many beers awhile back"

The man in cap waved his hand dismissively "I'll be fiiiinnnne" he hiccupped "I'll probably just take a nap by the park before going home"

"If you say so" the teacher gave the younger man a hard pat on the back "See ya on Monday then boy"

Junpei did a salute "Sure thing commandah!" and with a twirl, Junpei headed for his van.

As soon as Junpei graduated from Gekkoukan he knew that college wasn't exactly a place for him. Sure, he had the money (his mom had saved up some cash right behind his dad) but looking at his grades he barely passed. Not wanting to waste his mom's hard work he decided to follow Mitsuru's advice of investing in the stock market (she was more than happy to explain investment but the more Junpei saw the numbers it gave him a headache so they settled for a stockbroker instead).

While Junpei managed to reach the semi-finals of the Koshien he still didn't think he was that of a good player compared to his teammates. Right now, Junpei was at a lost on what do with his life, he didn't want to end up like his old man who clearly had a life full of regret and mistakes he knew he didn't just wanna sit around and fool around. So, when he heard that Otoe-sensei was retiring leaving Gekkoukan High with no baseball coach he decided to take the job without second guessing.

Now that he was a coach of the team, he had access to the team van which was a white 1993 Volkswagen EuroVan that every once in a while, had an engine failure or two. It wasn't a babe magnet either but at least Junpei doesn't have to worry about chasing the last train home anymore.

"Hmm I'm not that drunk" Junpei spoke to himself as he hopped on the driver's seat "And my place isn't that far away" he smirked as he started the engine "I'll probably be more than fine"

The streets of Shirakawa Boulevard were crowded with office-workers trying to have a good time, women and men holding up signs offering a good time, a couple of drunkards and a few shady men selling even more shady merchandise on the street. The traffic was also quite slow because of the amalgamation of people walking by that it's a miracle that there haven't been any reported road accidents . . . this week.

Junpei yawned; it was quite a long day baseball season was coming up soon and he needed to make sure the team was in good shape. Last year the team managed to reach the semi-finals again but lost to a team from Tokyo, the very same team that he lost to during his senior year.

"Those damn Tokyo brats with their fancy training camps" Junpei muttered under his breath. While Gekkoukkan High had probably enough budget to make all their sports teams happy (they even had a karuta club with special rooms for crying out loud) it wasn't like the budget allocated was being utilized properly. When Junpei found out exactly how much money was being given to the club he almost fell down his chair.

Aside from the improper budget majority of the regular players were seniors and a couple of them were even one of the school's top students. While they still had time to practice it was clear baseball wasn't their focus as of the moment, which meant Junpei had to train the underclassmen to the bone. It was only recently that he offered to the board that they have a Christmas training camp for the team. It's not like the team minded seeing as the majority of them didn't have much to do (and were alone and single like him . . . ahem) it wasn't that much of a problem.

Now all he's doing now is waiting for their reply.

He can imagine it now maybe they should go for the mountains and train there to test their endurance or maybe go somewhere warm and have fun at the beach? Ah, the beach maybe there wouldn't be that many people compared to the summer, would it be colder if he went skinny dipping in the dark? Now that he mentioned it, he did catch Yukari and Mitsuru doing it one time, he didn't see them precisely but he knew they did it and he wished he hadn't been knocked down by a seagull so he would enjoy the view.

BEEEP!

Ah yes, that annoying seagull why were there seagulls flying around in the evening? Maybe they were bats? Were bats a thing in beaches?

BEEPPPP! BEEEEPPPP!

Maybe there was a cave? Ohh cave by beaches meant treasure! Maybe he should go find a cave and make the team members dig out stolen treasure? Would it be considered stolen if they found it? Maybe the pirates who buried it were dead by now?

"HEY!"

Oh no the pirates were here! They weren't dead after all. What did Jack Sparrow do in a moment like this? Throw a jar of dirt?

"SIR!" the screaming pirate in his head suddenly turned into someone else. The pirate cave he was at was now his car and it was still moving, yet how was this . . .

The stranger suddenly grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him out of the van. From what Junpei could hazily see the guy carrying him was smaller than he was but he was a lot stronger.

Before he knew it Junpei was out of his van and was now sitting on the ground. It was only here where the man with a cap suddenly got a bearing of things. He looked up at the stranger who pulled him out who was some guy with dark blue hair.

"WHY THE HECK DID YOU PULL ME OUT OF MY CAR!?" he then raised his hands in defence "Are you gonna steal it"

The blue-haired stranger stepped aside so he could see a full view of the situation. Right there was his van, dangling off the cliff.

Junpei blinked before panicking "WHAT HOW WHAAA?"

The blue-haired guy answered calmly "I was driving right behind you when all of a sudden you took a turn and headed for the cliff, I thought you were gonna kill yourself or something"

Again, the baseball coach was speechless "I . . . ahh . . . drank a bit . . ." he then remembered the van was not his "WAIT CAN YOU . . ."

Before he could finish his sentence the rails that were holding the van earlier broke and the car went falling down into the rocks below ending with a large explosion that shook the island for a moment and left fire on its wake.

Junpei's face went pale and his jaw dropped.

The blue-haired guy gave him a look "So . . . you need a ride?"

* * *

After the nice dinner, Naoto was washing her hands in the white marble covered bathroom. There were three large oval mirrors by the sink and Naoto starred at her reflection. "She's either innocent or a really good liar," she told her reflection. So far Miss Kirijo seemed to be the perfect hostess, making her feel welcome, serving good conversation between meals and making sure that her plate and glass was always full.

Naoto turned off the table and grabbed the paper towels which were on a glass holder and wiped her hands "Let's see what she has prepared for dessert".

She then threw the paper towel into the white marble basin and exited the bathroom. As she went closer into the living room, she could hear chatting from afar and decided to slow her pace.

"So, are you going to sign more?" said a voice in which Naoto could remember as Chairman Ikutsuki.

"I don't think now is the best place to talk about that matter," said Kirijo "I have a guest"

"Ah, so he finally took your invitation" the Chairman let out a chuckle "He seems like a nice young man"

Miss Kirijo hummed "Yes, he was younger than I expected and more . . ."

"More what?"

Naoto stopped walking waiting for what she meant.

"Never mind that" the woman replied "I had a long day. Would you like to stay for cake?"

"Well I'll take any flavoured cake, as long as it's not a stomachache"

It was in here that Naoto entered the living room "Chairman, it's good to see you and your . . . puns"

The man let out a laugh and waved his hand dismissively "Well you see I have a really bad stomach. You know what they say: People with diarrhea don't have their shit together."

"Chairman please avoid using such foul language" Kikuno appeared behind Naoto pushing a tray of what seems to be the cake.

Ikutsuki shrugged "When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane and going the wrong way."

"I don't know if that's a pun or an improperly timed motivational line" Kikuno deadpanned placing the tray in the centre and pulling out the lid revealing a round Napoleon cake covered in chocolate syrup and topped with blueberries. "Now please" the maid smiled at Naoto "Help yourself"

Naoto placed her hands behind her back "Um, if possible, I would like to be left with Miss Kirijo alone to discuss some matters"

"Of course" Mitsuru stood up from the leather chair she was sitting on and nodded her head towards her maid and Ikutsuki "Kikuno, Chairman"

"Come on then Kikuno" Ikutsuki gestured toward the maid "Let me tell you about the plumber who told me a hole boring story about pipes"

The maid rolled her eyes as they exited the living room and she closed the door.

Once they were alone Mitsuru went over to the trolley and picked up a knife and started slicing the cake "Are you sure you wouldn't fancy some cake?"

"Why was there such heavy security for a school basement?" Naoto was holding no punches going straight for the point.

Mitsuru almost dropped the knife but kept her calm "There are important records stored there, several generations of Gekkoukan and the Kirijo Group itself is stored there"

Moving closer "Do you have any idea as to why your father was down there?"

"I've been wondering that myself for months" she sliced the cake very carefully into eight equal pieces "And if I'm being honest, I can't think of a straight answer for that"

"Please" Naoto gestured "Humor me with your theories"

Once Mitsuru was done cutting the cake, she straightened her back with the knife still in hand she replied "From what I understand my father went down there to retrieve records from when my grandfather was still head"

"How many people have access to the basement?"

"The principal, the chairman, me and . . ." Mitsuru faltered "A couple of maintenance men, they were all questioned by the police already including myself"

Naoto nodded "I see" the detective brought out her notebook "In regards to your kidnapping a few months ago; it's stated here that you . . . escaped . . ."

"It was a lucky break for me" the redhead smiled.

"And you've received no outside assistance? Not even by the police?" Naoto raised a brow.

"Involving the police would be more dangerous" she cleaned off the icing off the knife with her finger and tasted the icing "I'm more than capable of taking care of myself"

Turning a few pages in her notebook "This question may seem far-fetched"

Mitsuru raised a brow.

"Have you ever heard of an organization called the Velvet Room?"

* * *

Shinji never really liked Mondays, but there was something about this particular Monday that made him hate the day even more. His cold hasn't gotten away but his headache was at least gone he presumed that wearing a mask and keeping away from the food would work. Sadly, he had forgotten that on that day he had to meet with the principal because of a complaint against him.

If there was anything that irritated him it was whiny women who had no clear argument in their argument.

"HE'S EMOTIONALLY ABUSING MY DAUGTHER!" the woman was a typical housewife, messy bun hair, long skirt and cardigan, has a giant bag of groceries and a very cross face when she's mad but would swoon the moment she sees a pretty boy and tries to recall her youth when she was prettier and had a better hope for a future.

The principal wasn't that bad Shinji thought; well, first of all, he hired a scary looking guy like him to teach home economics so he presumed the man had some sensibilities. Though if there was one thing everyone in the faculty and the student body could agree upon, it's that he's a bit of a space cadet.

"Hmm . . ." the principal, who was a heavyset fifty-something old man wearing a grey suit and bright red tie "I always wanted to ask, but do you know someplace where they sell good artichokes around here? The ones in the supermarket don't seem fresh and the market is quite far from here"

The parent gave him a look "I'm here about one of your teachers"

"Ah yes Aragaki-sensei" the principal clapped his hands "I'm sure you know where to buy some"

Shinji awkwardly replied "Well . . . I usually grab my vegetables from the trucks before they reach the market"

"Oooohhh, but are you sure the middlemen don't overprice them?" the principal took out a notepad as if to jot out notes.

"That depends" the teacher shrugged "I usually get a good deal out of them cause the owner of those trucks is a good friend of mine"

The principal nodded "I see, I see"

The parent went back and forth between the two before she stomped her foot "I'm here to discuss important matters yet here you are talking about artichokes!"

At that moment the secretary opened the door "Mashimo-san, the Arisatos are nowhere"

This caused Shinji to raise a brow but he didn't say anything.

"Ah yes!" the housewife pointed "That's the girl who was bullying my daughter!"

Shinji muttered under his breath "Just who the fuck is her daughter?"

The secretary nodded and closed the door after a few moments the door opened and Hamuko Arisato meekly entered the room followed by a young man.

This time Shinji's eyes widened and he stood up from his chair "I know you"

The guy faced him and offered a smile "Ah, you're the guy from the convenience store"

Hamuko looked at her teacher then at her brother "You two know each other?"

"Ah it's nice to see you again Arisato-san" the principal welcomed the two new guests "Please have a seat"

Everyone took a seat. Shinji was looking at the older Arisato. The parent was glaring at the younger Arisato. Hamuko was fidgeting as this wasn't the first time she was sent to the principal's office. The principal had a beaming smile on his face and Minato was trying to recall why he was there in the first place.

* * *

 **This chapter should be entitled 'the time Minato met everyone else' or something. I feel like this chapter is kinda lacking something but I dunno.**

 **Thank you to CrazySean, animangafreakZX, DemonVermin, Yami Akurei, ciel blackblood, TheSpoy, and EndorsedSix for following and/or adding this story in your favorites.**

 **Review?**


	9. Octobre

For as long as Yukari knew Junpei she knew he was prone to do stupid things, but what he told her that morning just really took the cake.

"YOU CRASHED THE SCHOOL VAN?!" the girl yelled at the phone.

"Hahaha . . ." she could imagine him scratching the back of his head "Well you see it's a really long story . . ."

"YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO PICK ME UP HOW THE HELL DID THAT HAPPEN!?" Yukari had just recently been released from the hospital and Junpei was supposed to drive her home to avoid the paparazzi that was waiting outside the hospital and probably even outside her house.

"I'm sorry Yukatan" he sighed "I still have cash lying around but I have to pay the school and stuff . . . can't you ask Mitsu-"

Immediately she replied "No, I'm not"

"Are you sur-"

"I am" she glared at the phone "AND GET YOUR LIFE TOGETHER DAMN IT!" she was about to slam her phone down but then she realized that her phone was from a sponsor and while she didn't know if they would be mad if she broke their model she wasn't taking any chances.

She sighed; her leg was still in a cast and will be in one for two weeks meaning she won't be Pink Argus anytime soon. After staying in a hospital bed for weeks she started to reflect upon her actions, while she knew it was her fault for getting kidnapped in the first place she knew very well the damn guy who was supposed to save her wasn't supposed to shoot her damn leg.

Holding onto her crutches she tried to get off the bed, it wasn't as painful as she thought but then when she started moving is when she started to feel things. She slowly but surely made her way to the window and peeked through the blinds, just as she thought there was a tiny crowd of people waiting for her to get out, she could even spot a few camera guys hiding in bushes and trees.

"Damn it" she muttered as she tried to weigh her options, she could call Mitsuru but she didn't want to worry and abuse her friend anymore. Junpei was useless. Her agent was stuck in traffic when she texted earlier and it was basically suicide if she tried to sneak out of the hospital on her own.

"Wait a minute" an idea popped into her head and she picked up her phone again and scrolled through her contacts "Come on come on do I still have his num . . . THERE" she pressed call and placed the phone on her ear. She tapped her non-injured foot as she waited for an answer from the other end.

"Hey, what's up?" a gruff voice came out.

In here Yukari let out a sigh of relief "Thank goodness, Senpai, where are you right now?"

"Umm . . . in class?"

"Are you really?"

"Yes I am, if you don't believe me" the sound then shifted to what was probably a teacher's lecture "There I'm in class"

"Skip your class"

"WHAT?!"

"Senpai this is important please" the actress bit her lip "I'll only ask this once"

"You said that during our last trip to Kyoto"

"THIS IS DIFFERENT PLEASSE!" she begged "You're my only hope"

A deep sigh was heard on the other line "Alright fine, what is it?"

"I need you to help me sneak out of a hospital"

There was a pause before "WHAT THE HELL?"

"WHAT YOU'RE IN A HOSPITAL? FOR WHAT? WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME!?"

Yukari let out her umpteenth sigh of the day "You really are out of the loop aren't you Akihiko-senpai?"

* * *

After the painful ordeal that was the meeting at the principal's office, Hamuko tried to get her mind off it. Well, it wasn't that bad of an experience, no real punishment had been actually placed upon her except for two sessions with the guidance counsellor that she didn't even really mind. Instead what she was most concerned about was how embarrassed she was. This was the second time her brother had been called by the principal while he didn't really seem to mind much (in fact he had no idea what was going on the whole time) she couldn't help but feel a bit ashamed.

She knew it wasn't her fault in the first place if that one chick (she couldn't even remember her name) got intimidated by her mere presence. After patching things up with Rio they decided to get serious at the tennis club. As a result, they kicked out every useless member from the team (which was basically the entire team except them and a few freshmen) this irritated the kicked out girls gravely as Gekkoukan had a strict club policy requiring students to have at least one extra-curricular activity. And seeing as they couldn't join any other clubs in the middle of the year they were going to face dire consequences.

Because of these several of the girls started complaining to their parents as though expecting them to be taken back, it was only now that one parent actually marched to the principal's office and whined about her and Rio. Rio's parents were not brought that day due to the fact they were both in Osaka for business thus they were rescheduled.

Despite the several setbacks they were having by the girls they kept their eyes on the prize. They were gonna make sure Gekkoukan Female Tennis Team gets a place at Nationals, they may not win (they had realistic expectations) but at least they were starting something. They were training the freshmen every day with drills and while she and Rio had several practice matches and even had some with the Boy's Team who were quite helpful.

"Looks like we're gonna pause of practice this week" Rio said as they were in the changing room getting ready to go home.

Hamuko had a confused look on her face "Huh? Why? Don't tell me the freshmen are . . ."

"No" Rio waved her hands "Silly, midterms are coming up remember"

The girl blinked "What? When?"

"Next week" the raven head girl raised a brow "You did study for them didn't you?"

At this Hamuko's face went very pale "I've . . . they . . . slipped off my mind"

The fellow tennis captain shook her head "You really need to drop a few clubs you've joined"

"I only have two!" Hamuko argued "I dropped Student Council this summer after Hidetoshi made me check girl's handbags and everyone got pissed at me"

Rio raised her hand "You still have Art Club, Cooking Club and the Library Committee" she counted each club with her fingers "Adding the tennis club you have four"

Hamuko did a shaky laugh "Uhmm, it looks good on my record? Hahaha"

"Hamuko-chan, you know you're only one person you can't please everyone" she placed a hand on the girl's shoulder "You need to drop a few clubs, no wonder you're stressed out"

At this, the redhead looked down at the floor "Maybe . . ."

This concerned Rio "Are you okay? Do you have personal problems?"

"It's nothing" Hamuko waved a dismissive hand "I'm probably just tired, also just realizing exams are coming up is making me a bit worried"

"If you need anything I'll be here to help you" Rio offered.

Removing the girl's hand on her shoulder "I'm fine, excuse me, I . . . gotta go somewhere" and with that, she grabbed her bag and ran off the school. She didn't know where she was going she just wanted to move. She wanted to make herself tired so that by the time she gets home she'll be too exhausted to move and think.

It had been a few months since she discovered the blood stains on her brother's clothes yet she still hasn't said a word about it. She knew that eventually it will come up but she didn't know if she was ready. She didn't know if maybe her imagination was just too wild and that it was probably just a pig they killed or something. Maybe it wasn't even blood at all but spaghetti. Maybe she dreamt up that entire time she did the laundry, people could dream of mundane things too right?

But in the back of her mind she knew, he had done something. She knew that her brother had once again taken another person's life. Everything was starting to piece together, his weird schedule, the several trips abroad, the amount of money he received despite the fact he didn't even graduate from high school. The fact that every time they went out he had this weird look whenever they enter a store or a restaurant.

She loved her brother. She loved him more than anything in the world. He was the only family she got, he was the last one. If she losses him then there's no one, she's all alone. And that scared her.

So if what she thinks his job is was true . . . he might not live beyond thirty.

She was no longer running, her legs were tired, she had been doing drills with the freshmen and it took a toll on her. She was now aimlessly walking around until she noticed a line of several posters meaning she was at Screen Shot.

"Hmm . . ." she pondered as she looked at the several movie posters "Maybe one wouldn't hurt"

She then went over to the ticket booth and decided to go for the movie about the kid who tried to revive his dead dog, that movie about the MI6 agent just hit a little bit closer to home.

The movie was already playing when she entered the theatre and she noticed that there were a couple of kids with their parents and even a few students from Gekkoukan who were skipping studying like she was. She found a good spot at the back was happily enjoying her skittles.

It was now the scene were the two kids were trying to revive the dead fish one of them bought at the pet store and they were wondering where the fish was when she heard a bark. At first, she didn't pay too much mind and thought that it was the dog at the movie, but now it was just the kids talking with no dog in sight and yet she could still hear a dog bark.

Hamuko looked around the theatre and it seems she the only one who noticed this. "Hmm," the girl decided to let it go when she suddenly felt something licking her foot.

"NYA!" the girl yelped in surprise her yelp tossing her bag of Skittles could have been a little longer if someone's hand wasn't around her mouth.

"Shhh" she heard the stranger said.

Hamuko looked down and saw the creature eating her skittles was a fluffy dog. She pointed at the dog and then at the man who was his owner then raised a brow.

"I apologize for my dog, but please keep it quiet" the moment he spoke Hamuko's eyes widened, wait she recognized that voice.

She started repeatedly poking him and murmuring something in his hand.

Shinji rolled his eyes "Yes, it's me Arisato. I'm gonna remove my palm and you're not gonna say anything about this. Okay?"

Hamuko nodded and even crossed her chest and did a sign.

He removed her hand then returned to leaning back against his chair and watching the movie.

Hamuko, on the other hand, got curious at the dog "Can I?" she whispered.

"Be quiet about it" he whispered back not looking.

The dog seemed to be invested in the movie as well as wagging his/her tail as he/she watched the movie. The girl then looked left and right making sure nobody was looking and then she slowly reached over and pet the greyish white coat of the dog.

Hamuko bit her lip trying not to squeal, the dog was so soft and fluffy and she just wanted to hold onto this wonderful creature. She then looked at the dog's owner and she realized that he was looking at her. Not wanting to get embarrassed by him and further, she sat up straight and tried to concentrate on the movie.

A few moments of silence passed by when she spoke "I . . . didn't know you liked these types of movies" she did as shaky laugh.

"It was Koromaru who wanted to see it" he answered plainly.

Hamuko lightened up "That's her . . ."

"His name"

She formed an 'oh' shape with her mouth "I see" she nodded. She didn't know how she keeps on having uncomfortable moments with this guy, it's like every time they were in the same room the gods of sheer awkwardness would bless them to embarrassment and other things.

"Arisato" the girl almost jumped when he spoke.

She faced him "Yes?"

"I have a question" he gave her a look and for some reason, she knew what he was going to say "What does your brother do for a living?"

* * *

Chidori decided to dress down for the evening. She wore a Persian Blue Gucci sheath dress with black felt on the neck going down and on the upper portion of the skirt it was laced with some pattern along with a pair of black crocodile riding boots. Her red hair was removed of its usual hairpieces except for a pair of black ribbons tied to her hair, instead of a choker she wore a raven skull necklace paired with a pair of crescent moon earrings. Her eyeshadow was a mix of grey and white while her lips were painted a dark green.

She was patiently waiting by the steps of the Naganaki Shrine. When she was a young girl in the orphanage she never really clung unto any beliefs due to her apathy. Yet as she grew older due to how the sisters raised her she ended up adopting Catholic practices. She took her communion, prayed to saints and did a sign of the cross before she ate. Whenever people ask her if she believed in God she would reply "I do, though not the one that you think" which made priests wonder if she was a part of the occult. It was quite funny when they thought of that though so she just plays along.

Despite this though she had immense respect of Japanese culture and didn't mind hanging around shrines and attending festivals. Despite the fact, she only attended one festival and that was when she was very very young.

"For a moment I didn't see you" Chidori turned around to see her date for the night. He dressed in a blue and white checkered dress shirt under a wool grey sweater and navy blue topcoat, jeans and black Dolce & Gabbana black calfskin loafers. He was so casual that she wondered that maybe he was a bit underdressed.

In which she voiced out "Aren't you a bit underdressed" she looked at him up and down.

He let out a chuckle "I apologize if I'm not suited to your tastes"

"Its fine" she linked her arm around him "Now then where shall you take me, Number Three?"

He eyed her with his cold blue eyes "May I ask where you got that name"

The woman shrugged "I have no clear idea on where they got that name as well" she rubbed his arm "They even have two people they call Number Two"

"I never understand underground naming systems" he sighed.

She gave him a playful smile "It's a miracle we even have a system"

They silently walked down the steps and eventually hopped into his black BMW i8. "So, what do I call you exactly?" he asked as he started the engine.

Flipping her hair "Don't you people have code names for renegades like me?"

"The renegades we encounter usually end up dead before we could think of a name" he replied with a smirk.

She gave a Cheshire smile "Aren't you such cruel people"

"I could say the same for you" he raised a brow.

She looked at her nails "Don't worry, I don't plan to talk about work this evening"

"And what do you plan?"

Flicking her nails "Even people like us want to have a good time don't we?"

* * *

The investigation so far has been going a little bit stale. The deeper she looked into the Kirijo Group the more questions Naoto had. This was more than just a murder she realized, there was some sort of ploy being emulated and she wanted to know what that is.

So far after having dinner with Mitsuru Kirijo, she is a little bit more than certain that she wasn't involved in the mess at all. She was the new blood. Whatever happened to her father was planned long ago. But she couldn't just label Miss Kirijo as one-hundred per cent innocent as well, that's one thing a detective must never do. Be suspicious until the very end.

Speaking of suspicious, the Chairman was definitely . . . a character to say the least. Under his puns and clumsiness, he still held a lot of power within the group; he was the adviser of the CEO so he called out the shots when Miss Kirijo was unsure of decisions. He had the opportunity, the pressure and the rationalization. His name was under her 'Be Wary Of' list.

Another thing that made her suspicious was the basement; if possible she wanted a detailed map of everything in that basement. She knew there was more dirt in that basement than that one storage unit; the police department couldn't be that lazy that they didn't even mind looking at the other storage areas.

Lastly, there were the kidnappings. There were two that occurred this year one involved Miss Kirijo the other involved a board member name Aono. In both occasions, there was no police involvement. In both occasions the victims escaped: Kirijo was found by an elder woman while Takeba was dumped into the hospital.

The Kirijo group was no stranger to mafias so there was a possibility of their entanglement into this situation. But for some reason, she felt that there was something off about it. It was a far-fetched theory but what if this was their handiwork? No one knows if the tale of this assassin organization holds true. It was a myth like that of King Arthur it was a fairy tale that sounds too real.

But what if it were real?

Naoto shook her head "I should not ponder on such fantasies" she sighed "I shouldn't have even asked that question to Miss Kirijo, I looked stupid"

She brought out her laptop and placed it on the table, it was quite a large and bulky one but it was the best and only one Naoto would ever use for investigations. It was in here where she would be able to access her grandfather's files and other files from police departments.

She also used this for hacking.

Bringing out her notepad she used to take note of keywords she got from Mitsuru Kirijo and the Chairman she tried to get into the system of the Kirijo Group. Despite how cool it looked on TV shows and movies' hacking isn't exactly as exciting as it looks. There weren't any visual cubes of whatnots that represented the mainframe of the thing that was being hacked. In reality, it was just layered upon layer of code.

Among the skills that her grandfather taught her code is probably the one thing, she could say she was better at. She could endure staring at the computer screen for hours typing at a swift speed while keeping track of what happened, what is happening and what is going to happen. She remembered that as a child she would hack into traffic lights and make a disco out on the streets. Ah, the younger years.

Now here she was in a hotel still wrapped up in a towel with a cup of coffee on her side several notes on the other and not once did she blink.

After a few hours of hacking and making sure no one knows she's actually hacking she finally had a breakthrough. Not wasting one moment to celebrate she checked into the database trying to see if they had some map or something.

It was in here when she heard knocking on the door "Shirogane-san, your laundry is here" called out the maid from the other side.

Immediately Naoto stood up straight "Just a moment" she then frantically ran to the bathroom and looked for a thick robe she could wear as she didn't have time to wrap her boobs.

Opening the door just by a bit she greeted the maid who was a thin pale woman in her late forties wearing a red uniform with her hair in a bun holding Naoto's laundry bags "I'm sorry to disturb you but you did request to receive your laundry as soon as possible" the woman smiled.

Naoto gave a polite nod "Oh don't worry I don't mind" she grabbed her clothes "Thank you very much" and with that, she quickly closed the door.

Immediately the girl let out a sigh of relief and slid down the door. As she grew older it became harder and harder to make keep the illusion that she was a boy. It had been easier when she was younger when most guys and girls pretty much sound similar, her boobs hadn't grown and her period wasn't getting in the way.

There were days were Naoto wished she was just born a boy so she wouldn't have to go through all this trouble. It couldn't be helped that most people don't take curious little girls seriously. She wanted people to fear her not tell her how cute she was or underestimate her.

"There's no time to ponder on such things" Naoto stood up, tossed her clothes on a sofa in the room and jumped into her bed to resume her work. "Wait a minute" the girl raised a brow "What is this?"

* * *

As expected of most corporate hierarchies' majority of its members were old men who were disconnected with the modern times and slightly younger men who probably had no idea what was going on at the company at all and only had shares because they inherited it from their parents.

It was the bi-annual shareholders meeting for the Kirijo Group and Jin hated every moment of it. They were just going to sit in one room, talk about how great the company was, make them but more shares and drink the night away. If he could he'd rather skip the entire event altogether, but alas he has no choice.

Their one connection to Kirijo Group had gotten himself killed, while it would be easy to get another board member they didn't know if that person would do something stupid. If you wanted to get things right you have to do them yourself they say.

"Hey, you seem new here!" Jin turned around a saw lanky man who seemed to be completely out of place wearing an ill-fitted suit, baseball cap and sneakers to the event. He also seemed a little too friendly. "My name's Junpei, what's yours?"

Jin eyed the stranger "What are you doing here?" he asked.

This made the guy step back a bit but he laughed it off "Hahaha same reason as you are" he rubbed the back of his head "I'm a shareholder"

"Is Kirijo Group performing so badly that they'd sell stock to you?" Jin raised a brow.

The smile of the baseball man's face was slowly fading but he still kept at it "Well, everyone is investing in stock these days. Times a changing ahahah"

Jin sipped his drink "Indeed they are" he then turned away from the man not wanting to converse with him any further.

The reluctant man decided that he might as well do his job by socializing with the higher-ups in the room. He knew who the people with the most stock were and he knew enough about them to start a bit of small talk to get their good side. He was talking to an 80-year-old man with terrible hearing about the Manchuria incident when something caught his eye and almost made him drop his drink.

"Excuse me for a moment," he told the old man who obviously didn't hear him and realize Jin was gone and talked about Russians.

Jin quickly moved his way around the crowd and pulled the woman he saw "What are you doing here Chidori?" he hissed at the woman.

The said woman looked at how he held her wrist "I'm on leave"

"You're not answering my question" Jin hissed tightening his grip.

Chidori rolled her eyes "I suggest you let go of my hand for people are going to get suspicious"

He reluctantly let go "Now tell me, what are you doing here?"

"I'm on a date" Chidori massaged her wrist. "Just so happens my date kinda works here"

Jin gave her a look "Does Takaya know about this?"

"I don't think my personal life should be his concern" she flipped her hair "You just work too hard that everything to you is about work"

Jin crossed his arms "I don't have time to concentrate on silly things like a personal life"

"All work no play makes Jin a dull boy" the redhead teased before taking two glasses of champagne flutes from a waiter passing by "Don't worry I'll be off your tail for tonight" she winked before leaving him in the crowd.

Jin bit his lip and looked at his reflection on the mirror "I'm not dull" he muttered.

* * *

"I shouldn't have come here" Junpei sighed as he drank his third glass of champagne that evening. He's been having a pretty rough time as of the late, his van blew up which made him suspended, his dad started ranting about getting his life together again, his friends just keep getting either mad at him or embarrassed by him.

He stared at his reflection in the champagne flute "You really don't belong anywhere now don't you" as he lowered the glass his eyes suddenly went wide and he almost dropped the flute.

It had been years since he saw her but there was no doubt about it, the girl walking in the crowd was her. There was no mistaking that red hair and ribbons and he could never forget that face.

It was Chidori.

* * *

He remembered it as though it were yesterday. It was his sophomore year in high school and Junpei was dreading the end of summer vacation. He also happened to bored out of his mind and the heat of that day just made things even more unbearable.

"These are supposed to be the memories I would cherish from my youth" he let out a sigh "Oh well"

"Get out of the way" a stern voice came out of nowhere.

This made Junpei jump he turned to see some weird chick wearing what could be a white wedding dress that wasn't a wedding dress but might as well be, how does she even endure the heat in that thing?

"Umm . . ." Junpei blinked.

The girl with the weird dress gave him a cold stare "You're standing in my way" it was in here Junpei realized she was holding a sketch pad and was probably drawing something.

"Ohh... uhh sorry" he then quickly moved out of the girl's way "Man" he looked at the girl "I can never understand art"

The next day Junpei again found himself wondering where he was wasting his high school years. While he was contemplating whether or not he would be ready for his senior year something caught his eye.

"It's the same girl again" he whispered to himself, just like yesterday she was still sitting on the ledge heavily concentrated on her work. He didn't realize that he had been staring intensely at her for so long until he heard her talk.

"You again?" she looked at him with mild surprise.

This startled him "Oh . . . hahaha" he chuckled "I'm surprised you remembered me"

She seemed taken aback "Same here"

He scratched the back of his head "Well when you're dressed up like that you can't help but stick out in my memory"

She remained quiet then proceeded to continue on her work.

He looked over at what she was doing "You know it's kinda nice . . . to have something you're into" he shrugged "Makes you forget about stuff right haha"

She paused in her drawing and looked up "It's no big deal, I only draw because I like to" she turned back to her drawing "Though I do understand what you mean about it making you forget things" and for the first time he saw her smile.

It was nice to have someone to talk to that wasn't a part of the school. Sure there was Yuka-tan and the senpais but for some reason, he felt inferior whenever he talked to them. They seemed to have they're future planned out; they know what they were doing with their lives, unlike him who didn't even know if he was going to college.

Which was why it was refreshing to talk to Chidori. While initially, she wasn't much of a talker eventually she started to open up to him. She also didn't know where her future was headed but she didn't seem to mind. She was an orphan who was abandoned by her parents and the only people she regularly interacted with were nuns so it was nice for her to talk to a 'normal guy' like him.

It was a nice company. She even gave him a few pointers in sketching while he may never be as good as her it was nice that she was even willing to try teaching him. They even played baseball once and she wasn't a bad batter.

Sadly things had to come to an end. It was a week before graduation when she broke the news to him.

"I don't think we can see each other anymore," she told him.

"Huh? Why?"

She looked away from him "I was . . . offered an art scholarship abroad"

He didn't know what to say to that "Oh . . ."

"I'm really sorry"

"We could chat online!" Junpei tried to be positive "I mean there are ways now . . ."

She shook her head "I'm sorry, I . . . just don't want to remember you"

"What?!"

"Don't get it the wrong way I just" she looked away "If we communicate online it will just make me feel bad we do not face to face . . . I hope you understand"

He lowered his head "I see . . . so this is goodbye?"

She nodded before she gave him something "Here, I want you to have this"

He unwrapped the present "This is . . ."

"There are still a few blank pages" she smiled at him "I hope you could draw some new memories for me there"

* * *

"That was definitely Chidori" Junpei panted running around the halls looking for that girl "There's no doubt about that"

He paused in his running and looked around the halls "Where could she be?" he started opening doors not minding if he would get in trouble or not. She was a remnant of his youth. She was what reminded him that the world may be a bit shitty but in the end, everything was alright. She was his first love.

"Chidori!" he yelled as he opened the door it was in here that he realized that he was in a closet. What he also realized that in the said closet there were two people who seemed to be in the middle of . . . something.

It was a good thing the only thing he could see was the guy's back because anything else would just make things all the more awkward.

The guy turned around to see who interrupted them and immediately Junpei recognized him "Hey! Aren't you that guy?" he pointed.

Minato just blinked, it was definitely awkward "Well . . . this is low in my professional career"

Junpei slowly backed away "Umm . . . you should . . . probably lock the... Door"

The guy slowly nodded "I'll . . . do that"

"What's going on?" the girl spoke, Junpei couldn't see the girl's face because it was dark in the room, but there was no mistake.

Right there in some closet in Kirijo Group headquarters giving the guy, who saved him last week some head, was Chidori.

* * *

Gently knocking on the door of Miss Kirijo's residence Naoto waited patiently for a response. After a few moments she heard steps and the wooden door eventually opened showing Kikuno the maid.

"Good Morning Shirogane-san" she greeted "Is there something I could help you with"

Trying not to sound like she ran to the estate "Is . . ." Naoto took a deep breath "Miss Kirijo around"

The maid shook her head "I'm sorry but you just missed her, she went to Shizuoka to meet with her grandmother"

"I . . . see" Naoto sighed.

Kikuno cocked her head "Would you like me to pass on a message, I will be following the mistress shortly"

Naoto thought for a moment "When is the mistress coming back"

"I am not certain" Kikuno smiled "Do not worry, I will be sure to relay your message verbatim to the mistress?" she said bringing out a notepad from her back pocket

Seeing as she had no choice "Just tell her when she gets back, that I would like to meet with her, in Gekkoukan High to be precise"

Kikuno wrote everything down "This is in regards to the investigation I believe?"

Naoto nodded "Tell her, I know what her father was looking for"

* * *

Fuuka and Rio were staying overnight to celebrate the end of exams. It had been a harrowing week of cramming for Hamuko who had completely forgotten about the tests and by some miracle managed to rank seventh if their school

"This is quite odd for you Hamu-chan" Fuuka commented as they just finished watching The Spiderwick Chronicles. "You never doze off from class"

The redhead was currently heating up the leftover Macaroni and Cheese in the microwave "The stress of clubs is probably getting to me"

This made the teal-haired girl frown "Maybe you should quit the cooking club"

"HUH WHAT?! NO!" Hamuko spun around her chair "Why would I do that?"

Rio scolded the other girl "Be careful you might fall off the chair

Fuuka stared at the bouquet of columbine flowers that were in the centre of the dining table "Well . . . we do have economics class already so you really don't need to be . . ."

Hamuko raised her fist "Fuuka I need the cooking club! How else do you think I can learn how to cook so I don't have to rely on my useless brother?"

"Sorry for being so useless" a voice spoke startling almost all the girls.

Immediately the redhead fell off her chair in shock while Fuuka greeted the older Arisato "Good evening Arisato-san"

Rio palmed her forehead "I told you"

Minato entered the kitchen and gave the visitors a smile "Nice to see you too Yamagishi and Iwasaki" he then went over to his fallen sister on the floor and flicked her forehead "You ungrateful little brat"

Hamuko just frowned and crossed her arms like a little kid "You're back early"

"Something came up" he stood up "Why don't I cook for you girls tonight?"

Both visitors immediately blushed "Sure" "Yes Please"

Hamuko glared at her friends "Traitors"

"We're gonna buy some snacks outside then" Rio grabbed Fuuka's hand as she left the dining room "Make sure not to burn anything!" she waved.

"I'm not that hopeless!" Hamuko waved her fist as they left.

Minato just smiled before he opened the fridge "Hmm . . . are they okay with chicken?"

"Sure why not" Hamuko finally stood up from the floor "Do you need some help"

Taking out chicken breasts and carrots "I don't know if I have enough insurance for another fire"

Rolling her eyes "That was one time" she crossed her arms "And it's not like you were a good cook back then. You made the oven explode the last house"

Pre-heating the oven "You would eat anything back then, even dog food"

"Shut up" the girl frowned leaning against the counter.

There was a silence that passed between the two the only sounds heard from the kitchen was the slicing of lemons and carrots.

Eventually, Hamuko spoke "Exactly . . . what business do you do?" she asked.

Without skipping a beat he replied "Insurance"

"Wrong" she glared.

He stopped chopping "Huh"

She sighed "Before you said loans, then another time you said you sold hygiene products last month you told our neighbour you sold cars"

Minato dropped his knife and placed his hands on the counter "How long have you noticed?"

"Long enough" she looked at the dining room door hoping the girls don't drop into their conversation "I didn't want to ask . . . until I saw the blood on your clothes"

He remained silent.

"Answer me, yes or no" she took a deep breath "Do you kill people for a living?"

Sighing before looking at his sister "Yes"

She gulped "Do you work for the police or . . . something related"

"No"

Hamuko nodded "Do you sleep well at night?"

He took a little longer to answer that one ". . . Sometimes"

"Yes or no only"

He sighed again "No"

"Okay then" Hamuko pushed away from the counter "That's all" she then ran out of the room.

Minato looked up to the ceiling and closed his eyes. He always had good hearing it helped him identify if there were enemies close by him; he always considered it a blessing. Right now though he couldn't help but curse this talent as he heard her little sister sobbing in the other room.

* * *

"Strega huh" pondered a tall woman who was in her early thirties, had shoulder-length black hair styled in a flip and wore a custom two-tone brown catsuit with pink hearts on the chest and metallic silver trimming. "Never heard of them"

Another woman with red hair rolled in a bun at the top of her head with strands shaped like a star and the tips dyed white puffed out a smoke "Neither have I"

Ryoji waved off the smoke "Geez Lala-chan would you mind stuff puffing that at my face"

The woman smirked "If you stopped calling me Lala-chan maybe I would"

The raven-haired woman raised her hands "Alright you two enough fighting"

"What is going on in here?" the three turned to see who entered the room showing it to be Elizabeth "Oh good evening Master Pharos, Mistress Maya and Lady Lala"

Ulala groaned "Why is it catching on?"

Ryoji smirked "You didn't mind it when Yuki-chan and Old Man Tatsuya called you that"

"That's because Tatsuya looks hilarious saying it!" the older woman defended herself.

Elizabeth just giggled while Maya just shrugged and smiled.

"So" Ulala later asked waving her cigarette holder "Where did you hear this Strega thing?"

Elizabeth's ears perked "Oh, so I wasn't the only one Master Yuki inquired"

"It was Yuki who asked?" the redhead raised a brow "Did he get himself tangled by the mafia again?"

Maya waved her hand "Oh he can't be that clumsy" she blinked then smiled "Right?"

The Velvet Room attendant brought out her tablet "Well from what I've dug up they don't seem to be an organized crime syndicate" she moved her finger looking at other files "Though, they seem to be a group who supplies jobs to assassins"

Ryoji snorted "What do you know; someone is trying to copy our business model!"

"Their clients are mostly people from crime organizations and militants" Elizabeth closed her phone "They're probably just mere fans of us"

"Hmm, so the cretin have started to organize" Ulala took a puff of her smoke "In due time they'll probably be challenging us to see who killed more people or something"

"I wouldn't worry about them too much" Elizabeth smiled "They don't seem to be that much of a threat"

Maya snapped her fingers "You got that right, they haven't fully copied our business model"

"So what did Yuki-chan want from them?" Ulala asked.

Ryoji sprawled himself on the couch "Oh, apparently he's shagging one of their operatives" he shrugged.

Immediately all three girls looked him with various expressions, Ulala with curiosity, Elizabeth with mild surprise and Maya with genuine concern.

"Umm . . ." the guy raised his hands "It's a girl?"

"Well duh we know he's as straight as a tin pole!" Ulala slammed the coffee table "Tell us details!"

"As much as I'd like to question him on that you know Yuki-chan keeps it low on his sex life" Ryoji did a weak laugh.

Maya, on the other hand, went on full on big sister mode "This is the first time in a while since he's been in a relationship. Would this be a bit dangerous as he's doing it with a possible competitor? Is he only doing it for sex or does he secretly crave some emotional support?" her eyes went wide "How would his baby sister react?"

Ryoji pushed his hands "Calm down Maya, he's a big boy he can handle his own mess ups"

Ulala crossed her arms and turned to Elizabeth "By the way, Liz, how is the annual ball coming along?"

The attendant did a weird shape with her fingers "C'est Magnifique"

* * *

Even though Mitsuru had the label CEO she was not the real head of Kirijo Group. In fact, as long as the woman shall live the true Mistress of the Kirijo group was Chizue Kirijo. Ever since the death of her husband the Mistress had been supervising and controlling every bit of the organization. While her son did so most of the administrative work everything must still be approved by her, as a result, there were constant fights between mother and son.

Even when she was not controlling the Group she was hands-on in managing her family. She made sure all three of her children were well-bred samples of Kirijo royalty. From the names of her children to the names of their children, everything was managed by her. Everything must meet the gold standard that she had set up so high.

And now the pressures of the parents were now passed unto the grandchildren. Mitsuru remembered that one of her cousins Hana who was the daughter of a famous violinist and composer was pressured to achieve the same success as her parents. As a result, when she was a child she was drilled with piano, flute and voice lessons by their grandmother every day. On the day of her audition to Julliard however, the girl had snapped and not only did she fail the audition but she locked herself in her bathroom apartment and slit her arms. As of now, she was in a mental institution somewhere in Europe.

There was also another cousin Yamato, he was the offspring of a prosecutor and a Nobel Prize-winning chemist. He was deemed a child prodigy being able to speak three different languages by age five and finish university by age sixteen. By the time he was twenty he was already a PhD holder for physics. It would have been smooth sailing for the young man had grandmother disapproved one thing from his life: his relationship. You see from the tender age of ten young Yamato has found a fondness for boys. And despite the numerous achievements and awards, the Mistress forbade him from his homosexual relations.

This cultivated in a very heated argument that ended with Yamato having an arranged marriage with a French female TV reporter. Despite this, almost everyone in the family except grandmother knew that Yamato was having countless affairs with the several male housekeepers around his estate.

As of right now the model grandchild in the Kirijo household was no one other but Mitsuru. She always followed her grandmother's wishes. She never complained. And everything the young woman did so far pleases the woman.

That did not mean Mitsuru herself liked spending time with her grandmother.

She was currently taking the Shinkansen train and was expected to reach her destination at four in the morning. So far she had managed to delay this visit for a couple of months by using work and school as an excuse, she had even gone so far as to use her kidnapping and Shirogane-san's investigation.

But now she had run out of excuses now it was time to face the woman. Mitsuru let out a sigh "I have no choice" she then brought out her reading material which was Skin Graft: The Adventures of a Tattooed Man Vol 1 Issue 3. She was about to sink into the adventures of John Oakes when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Excuse me" Mitsuru turned around to see who tapped her shoulder "But there's something we need to discuss"

* * *

 **This was supposed to be up by Christmas but I attended a wedding and holiday stuff happened. Damn I thought I would publish enough chapters by now to reach December. Looks like a Christmas themed chapter will happen in mid January or February.**

 **Thank you to Eight Bucket, O'Diver, Turkay95, HJPotterReader and Joker0911 for following and/or adding this story to your favorites. Woo hoo we've got 50+ followers half way there to a hundred.**

 **Blue Cipher: Sorry this was late, yeah that was a typo thanks for pointing it out. Been confused with a lot of Chi names lately.**

 **And HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERY ONE**


	10. Novembre

It was the end of the day the sun was slowly setting colouring the sky in a wonderful orange as it lowered to the sea. The sound of waves and children playing by the beach could be heard from the hotel. Makoto walked to the hotel room as he adjusted his tie seeing as it was a bit too tight. As soon as he reached the door that was at the end of the hall he slowly pressed his pale knuckles on the door and did a soft knock.

There was no reply. He tried again only this time louder.

"Room service!" he called out in a polite tone "Your kitsune udon is here!"

Again there was no reply only this time he heard a soft click.

Immediately he got down to the floor as loud gunfire broke through the wooden door damaging it in the process. Pieces of wood and bullets flew into the air dropping unto the red and white carpeted floor.

Eventually, the firing stopped. From the hole created by the gunshots you could see from inside the room someone holding a Kel-Tec KSG, it should also be noted that the gun wielder was a woman. Her name was Viyona Menagai codenamed Dakini one of Asia's top hitmen who has been in the business since she was fifteen. She had brown skin, 5'6ft, had long black straight hair that reached to her thigh, and a large burn mark on her cheek that was the result of her drunken father throwing oil at her face when she was a child.

The woman lowered her weapon and opened the door; it was a miracle the hinges didn't break off. She stepped outside and scanned the hallway only to see nothing. It was in here that she felt something on the back of her head.

Viyona chuckled as she dropped the gun and raised her hands "Must you always attack from behind" she spoke in surprisingly fluent Japanese "Number Three?"

The blue-haired assassin had his Colt Python Target, 8-inch barrel .38 Special aimed at the woman's neck "That name is really going around now isn't it?" he kicked the rifle away from her.

"Well your name is a little too cute for someone like yourself" she smiled "Like a little doggie you know the fluffy ones"

"I'll take that as a compliment" he smiled back "I am more adorable than you"

Immediately the woman frowned "Now you're just getting personal" she then did a backflip kicking the gun off his hands before he could fire and spun around and used a crescent kick to hit his head. Now that he was on the ground she went over to her shotgun and picked it up "Let's see if you'll still be adorable once I destroy your face" she then started firing again.

Makoto rolled again on the floor dodging bullets and dived into a room he had opened earlier for such escape and locked the door. He then immediately barricaded the door with furniture like a couch, a table, and a lounge chair. None of this worked however as Menagai kept firing at the door damaging the barrier and the door in the process.

"Come on out you Pomeranian" the Indian kicked down the door and pushed away from the already broken furniture out of the way as she reloaded "It's about time I hang you in my living room"

"Not today Satan" Makoto hit her from behind with a vase filled with stones inside then banged her head on the bedside table before grabbing her gun and aiming at her "Who hired you?" he asked.

Her head was now covered in blood that it even stained the table "Not telling Pomeranian" she panted.

He shot her foot causing her to scream in pain "I'm asking again, who hired you?"

"You sick bastard" she growled "How much is Kirijo paying you"

"Don't make this hard Viyona" he shot her other foot which made her yelp again.

"JUST KILL ME ALREADY!" she yelled.

"Fine" he threw the gun far away then brought out a knife from his back pocket then crouched down on the floor.

Using this as an opportunity Viyona then grabbed his neck and tackled him to the ground "You think it was that easy?"

Wheezing "Yes" using his still free hands he stabbed her right in the spine making sure the knife goes in deep. Despite this though her hands were still trying to choke him her grip eventually started to loosen up.

He then pushed her off and pressed her to the floor making the knife go through her with more blood spilling all around. "Tell me who hired you!" he yelled.

By now the only words coming off her mouth were choking sounds as blood and saliva coughed off her mouth. Eventually, after a few moments of choking and bleeding from several wounds, the woman stopped struggling and died.

Makoto sighed then checked her pockets if she had a phone which he found none; he then turned the woman around pulled out his knife which released more blood from the body dirtying the white sheets of the bed they were standing next to. He placed his knife back in its slot the stood up and locked the hotel room with his key.

He then removed a notepad from the inside of his jacket and crossed out a name "That's number five" he sighed putting the notepad back "Just how many people want that girl dead?"

* * *

"It's good to see your my child" the elderly Kirijo spoke as she sipped her jasmine tea with her frail long hands grasping the cup as though they were tree branches wrapping around a bird's nest "How was your trip?"

Mitsuru did her most convincing solemn smile "A tiring one grandmother"

"I told you to come sooner" the Mistress adjusted her wide-rimmed round glasses made of gold "Alas, there seemed to be some issues in the company I see?"

"I'm sure you're aware of them" the younger Kirijo kept her hands on her lap "You do keep tabs don't you"

"Indeed I do" she put down the teacup on the round dining table carved out of baobab wood supported by its leg decorated in topaz and other gemstones. "So I believe you managed to settle the whole nuclear plant issue?"

The redhead politely nodded her head "We've shut down the plants and relocated the former employees"

"That's . . ." she flicked her long red painted nails "Respectable" she then lowered her glasses as she eyed her grandchild "Did that young boy find anything new?"

Mitsuru blinked "Young boy . . ." then she paused upon realizing who she was referring to, "The detective told me he . . . had some sort of lead . . ."

"And that is?"

"He . . . didn't specify"

Chizue shook her head "Can't be bothered, then that silly child to stop his dillydallying as soon as you return"

Mitsuru nodded and bowed "As you wish grandmother"

"Now let's discuss something of utter importance" the older woman closed her palm "As you know, you are the only person in this family who can run this group"

 _Most capable perhaps,_ Mitsuru thought in her head but she said nothing.

The Mistress continued "And right now your line is at risk of . . ." she paused to think of a word "Extinction, tell me, my child, how many death threats have you received?"

The girl sat up straight "I don't usually pay atten . . ."

"How many threats have you received" Chizue repeated in a stern tone and cocked her head "You did hire someone to take care of them yes?"

Mitsuru closed her eyes "I did"

"How many did he take care of?"

"Seven this month and twenty since April" Kikuno who was behind her charge the whole time she spoke up for her.

The Mistress did not seem pleased about this though "Speak when only spoken to" she looked at the maid with disdain before facing her grandchild "Now tell me again"

"Twenty threats against my life were taken care of" Mitsuru crossed her legs trying to remain calm.

Chizue's eyebrows waggled "You've hired a good one then, I applaud you for that" she leaned back against her Redwood carved chair upholstered with sheepskin and embroidered with leaves sown by a gold thread "But we can never be too sure"

She just stared "What are you implying grandmother"

"As soon as you finished your college degree and obtained full control of the company" she pointed a long and thin finger towards the younger girl "You are to be married"

Immediately Mitsuru's face flushed "Grandmother, we've discussed this several times" it was taking a lot of self-control to not stand up "I do not need a husband"

"But you need a child" the older woman smirked "You need an heir in order to ensure the legacy of the Kirijo Group"

Mitsuru opened her mouth but could not come up with the words to reply.

"You are not to worry in regards to finding a suitable partner" Chizue snapped her fingers and the maid right next to her went across the room towards Mitsuru and presented to her three binders "I have taken the liberty to give you . . . options"

The girl looked from the black binders in front of her to her grandmother then back at the binders "I . . . need to think . . ." she swears she going to choke "About this"

"Yes take your time child" the elderly woman gave a smile that on her face looks like a crooked straight line going upwards "I've only given this special opportunity for you"

Mitsuru could feel her body shaking but she knew that despite the fact that she had lost she needed to show some grace and not make a scene "Thank you, grandmother" her voice cracked at the 'mother' part as she stood up and immediately left the dining room, leaving Kikuno to collect the binders.

* * *

 _She must not cry. She must not cry. A Kirijo does not cry._ Mitsuru repeated this mantra over and over again as she paced inside her room. Her palms were shaking and despite the fact that the temperature was ten degrees and the wind from the sea from flowing inside her room she was completely drenched in sweat. She didn't realize that she was breathing hard and for some reason, her chest feels so tight that at any moment she was about to explode.

This wasn't the first time that Mitsuru experienced these things. The first time it happened she was around eight years old and she had a bad dream about her mommy turning into dust. This was the first time her father did not come to console her and fear and panic immediately overcame the child. This was also the first time her grandmother scolded her on crying.

" _You should not waste tears on silly things" she reprimanded the little girl "You're a Kirijo, you don't have time to be weak"_

 _Don't cry. Don't Cry. A Kirijo does not cry._

Over the years Mitsuru had managed to keep her emotions in check in order to please her grandmother and to not worry her father. Her father was already tired of dealing with the company's issues after all he did not have time to deal with silly dreams his daughter had.

Whenever Mitsuru felt overwhelmed by something she decided that instead of channelling sadness or pain she must do the opposite. She must adapt to anger. Instead of sulking in a corner when something goes wrong she attacks the situation dead on and leaves no time to sulk in a corner.

That didn't mean she didn't have a heart though. She may not let tears affect her but she would let her subordinate do so. She would always let them know if members of the student council or anyone needed someone to talk to she was there. She may not know how to handle their problems but she could at least try. Another thing a Kirijo must do it to serve and it was that was Mitsuru embodies the most.

The girl was walking on a thin rope of between being a compassionate and malevolent leader and so far it had been working well for her.

That was until her father died.

For some reason, her memory of what happened during the month of her father's burial and the wake was a haze to her. It was as if something in her had shut down. Like a machine has gone on auto-pilot. She had been so used to putting her personal emotions in the back burner that for a moment she had forgotten how to feel.

 _Don't cry. Don't Cry. Do not cry._

This was a tiny thing. Her grandmother was infamous for arranged marriages, of course, it would come to this. The fact that she was even making her choose her husband was even better, wouldn't it? She should be honoured that such an opportunity was bestowed upon her.

Yet without even looking at the binders, she knew she would never find someone. She could never find herself to . . . endure? Like? Be passive about?

"I can't love any of them" she whispered to herself almost immediately she found herself laughing. Love? Since when did that become an option for anyone? Love does not run a company. Love does not ensure efficiency. Love is a mere distraction. Love is just a marketing strategy used to sell chocolates on Valentine's Day and make people believe that Christmas was when Jesus was actually born. Love is an illusion, nothing more nothing less.

Yet why does she concern herself about this? Why does she feel like her grandmother had just taken the last string of freedom she had? Why does she feel like from now on it's no longer her who manages her life anymore?

This isn't about love at all.

This was about freedom.

And she had just lost it.

 _Do. Not. Cry._

She was now on her knees staring at the tortilla brown carpet as though it would suck her inside at any moment. She wanted to sink into whatever material this carpet was made of and let it crush her bones and choke her until consciousness would leave her. She wanted to forget about everything. Forget about the Group. Forget about her father. Forget about herself.

But she can't. If she were ever to die she knew even her grandmother had a plan for that.

She was all alone at this point.

She's no long Mitsuru Kirijo as her grandmother told her that fateful day when her father died.

She was now just a pawn.

 _Do . . . not . . ._

"Miss Kirijo?"

Immediately Mitsuru let out a loud gasp of shock, she was panting heavily and her hands were pressed flat on the carpet as though she was clinging onto something.

She could hear steps from behind her slowly approaching her "Are . . . are you okay?"

"I'm . . . fine" for some reason her voice was hoarse as though she had been screaming but she hasn't, she hasn't spoken a word since the lunch with her grandmother.

She felt a hand touch her shoulder. Due to the silk dress, she was wearing she could feel the cold leather of the person's glove touch her skin. Despite how terrifying this situation could be to any sane person right now a person's bloody hand would probably work for her right now.

Maybe the death she wished for might actually happen.

"Are you sure?" he asked again there was a pure concern on his tone it almost made her wonder what she looked like right now "You're shaking"

Finally lifting her eyes from the carpet she had been staring at for hours she turned to face this man putting on the widest smile she could probably fake she said "To be perfectly honest Mr Yuki, I'm not. I'm perfectly not fucking fine at all"

* * *

When Minato came to report to Miss Kirijo in her room at the Kirijo estate he did not expect to find her on the floor in what was probably the middle of a panic attack. She almost looked like a shivering puppy that was kicked on the floor so much and was too tired and cold to whimper.

Before he worked for the woman he had some idea on who she was. She was a young executive who had been thrust upon the company and so far she looked like she was doing well. She seemed to be a woman who knew what the heck she was doing, basically to poster girl for Head-Bitch-In-Charge. And when he finally met her he noted that she was actually a bit kinder than the Ice Queen label she had on her, yet she still gave off the air that she was a leader. She was a leader who would do anything for the Group and would fight tooth and nail for it.

And from the looks of it, that same Group she had been protecting has betrayed her.

He stood frozen for a moment not exactly knowing what to do, he knew enough first aid to stop bleeding and pull out bullets but anything that didn't involve blood he was completely useless. He scanned the room looking for something, a water bottle? Hot compress? An air-pressure tank?

His eyes then went over to a neatly wrapped pink paper bag with a white ribbon and cursive writing on top of a jade counter in the bedroom. Immediately he ripped off the silk ribbon deposited its contents in one throw and rushed over to the woman and for a split-second paused before he laid his hand on her shaking body and offered the paper bag. "Miss Kirijo," he said in a calm tone "Miss Kirijo, I want you to breathe into this bag"

The woman probably didn't even know who he was as her red hair was covering her face but she managed to reach out a shaky hand and grab the bag.

"Shit" Minato muttered as he looked around for something that would help him, for all he knew this girl was having an asthma attack or something. "Miss Kirijo . . ."

The heiress was breathing in and out heavily out of the pink paper bag and she had stopped shaking uncontrollably.

Pushing the hair out of her face he looked at the girl and as suspected she was unnaturally pale, she was soaked in her own sweat and her eyes were swollen. "Miss Kiri . . . Mitsuru" he said her name and tried rubbing her back to calm her down. "Everything's fine, there's nothing to worry about, just breathe" as soon as he said that a distant memory came to mind.

" _Don't worry Minato, everything is going to be just fine" a woman smiled, it was a warm caring one and for some reason it made him feel safe "Nothing will hurt you, I'm right here"_

Eventually, after a while,, her breathing became even and she had calmed down a bit. Shaking himself from the random thoughts in his head he brought out a handkerchief from his inner pocket and wiped off the sweat and tears from the young lady's face.

"Yu . . ." her reddish-brown eyes widened in surprise as she realized who was comforting her "Yuki-san . . ." her face suddenly went pink.

Still wiping her face he gave her a small smile "Feeling better?"

"I umm . . ." she looked away "I . . . I'm sorry you had to see that . . ." she held onto her chest.

Still holding out the handkerchief "You . . . seemed a bit stressed"

Letting out a sigh "I have been for the past few months"

"You should probably take it easy" he stroked her cheek with his fingers which made her jump slightly "You're pale as a ghost and this may be the lighting in this room but you look thinner from the last time I saw you"

Holding her cheek and looking at him "I assure you Yuki-san, I'm perfectly fine" she gave a tired looking smile "It's just been a long day

Frowning "I don't really meddle with other people's business, in fact, I don't usually meet my clients" he gave her a look "But what I just saw earlier is something I can't exactly forget that easily"

She stiffened "So . . . you saw everything then . . ." she then kneeled on the floor with her hands on her lap ". . . Isn't this getting a little too personal?"

"You got personal the moment you saw my face" his dark blue eyes bore into her reddish-brown ones.

"I didn't mean it that way" she pressed her lips together, "You said it yourself, you don't get involved"

Minato propped a chin on his hand "It's going to be a waste protecting you if you just keep destroying yourself"

She jolted upright "Excuse me?"

"Just a few moments ago you had forgotten how to breathe" he eyed her. "And something tells me this isn't the first time this has happened"

Mitsuru looked up to the ceiling, closed her eyes and took a deep breath "I'm just becoming a bigger liability for you aren't I?"

He remained silent but kept his stare.

She didn't say a word for a while either with the two basking in each other's uncomfortable yet somehow at the same time comforting silence. The gentle breeze from the ocean coming from the balcony enveloped the two occupants on the floor.

"That was actually the second time this has happened" she finally opened her eyes "The last time this happened . . . I was so young . . . I couldn't remember what happened then. In fact, I couldn't remember what happened a while ago as well"

He listened.

"My grandmother had this certain image on what a Kirijo should be, she had ingrained it to everyone in the family, those who do not uphold the standard she set up were kicked out of the family" her palms on her lap closed "And I just happened to suck into every aspect of that vision she had. I was the prime example. I had never com . . . I had never complained about it not once . . ." for some reason, she was losing her voice "I believed grandmother's vision, I thought it was the right thing to do. I thought that if I followed her plans for me I would be happy, I thought if I obeyed her she would . . . forgive father"

Minato raised his eyebrow, so there was something going between the Mistress and the late Kirijo.

"And I did everything as she said" the longer she stared at the hand-carved wooden ceiling she noticed her vision blurring "Everything . . . yet . . ." she choked as her eyes started to water and tears streamed down from her face "My mother is exiled, my father is dead and here I am offering myself to some random stranger I picked off that catalogue like some piece of jewellery" she then chuckled to herself "Only in reality, I am that accessory"

He took a deep breath, human relations was not his strong point at all. Heck, he didn't even do anything when his own sister cried, he's hopeless at this. He took a deep breath, he shouldn't get too involved. He really can't do anything that would alleviate her situation. It was stated in his contract that he would protect and kill for her.

Yet why did things get so personal so quickly?

Mitsuru covered her face and wiped her tears off with her palms, as though she was trying to put on a new mask, a mask of Mitsuru Kirijo the businesswoman "You have something to report to me?" she said in a business-tone completely different from what she was moments ago despite the fact her face was wet and her make-up was far from professional.

He looked at her for a moment. He then slowly stood up and gave her his handkerchief "Go wash up first"

Looking at the piece of cloth on her palms before looking up at him "Do I look that terrible?"

"You probably feel as equally terrible as well" he ran a hand through his hair "I'm sorry that the situation got . . . a bit uncomfortable"

She wiped her face with the handkerchief "It's fine, just . . . forget about . . . ignore . . ." she was then cut off when out of nowhere she felt arms around her and she looked at him "What are you doing?" she asked in surprise.

"I don't know," he said as he tightened the hug "I just thought you needed one"

Her eyes blink "I . . . don't . . . know what to say"

"Then don't say anything"

* * *

"Okay guys" Akihiko raised his palm "Since when did you turn my apartment into some hang out or base or whatever?"

Yukari was sitting on formerly white couch that now had several stains all around, she was leaning against several pillows to support her back has a pink bowl of cereal in her hands and was watching a drama about an 18 year-old who gets trapped in the body of a 30 year-old man who just so happens to be his future brother-in-law. "I'm injured and you volunteered to take care of me" the girl replied in a deadpan tone.

"Not you" he then pointed at the drunken figure who had fallen asleep on his white kitchen counter (for a boxer he had such a feminine apartment) "That guy! And where did he get all the alcohol from?!"

Junpei was lying down on the counter drool spooling from his mouth but he was pretty much half-awake "Sooooo . . . ya, dun ker por meh senpaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiii?"

The boxer sighed "What the heck happened to him? He's been like that for the past three days now or something"

Yukari let out a sigh "I tried asking him but he usually ends up balling in tears and saying how the gods had forbidden his happiness"

"Junpei" Akihiko went over to the kitchen and placed a hand on his shoulder "You gotta pull yourself together man, we're getting worried"

The man with the hat (or in this case without the hat his hat had been missing from his head for a while now) gave his senpai a goofy smile "Hev you ever fell in luuuvvvvv?"

This question caught Akihiko by surprise "What?!"

Yukari turning her head away from the TV looked over at the kitchen "What did he say this time?"

"He asked if . . ." he raised his brow "If I ever fell in lava?"

The actress let out a sigh again "I'm really sorry senpai he's really out of it, but it's probably even more dangerous to just leave alone" she shrugged "He's safer passed out in your kitchen than outside doing who knows what"

"I guess but" Akihiko crossed his arms "I can't take care of both of you at the same time"

At this, the girl frowned "That's true"

"Maybe you should ask Mitsuru to hire a physical therapist for you" the silver-haired boxer rubbed his chin "I'll deal with Junpei in case he does something stupid"

Yukari looked away and bit her lip "I dunno, she seems to have a lot of things to worry about more than me"

"Now that I think of it" Akihiko gave her a look "Why didn't you just let Mitsuru deal with your security? I mean not that it's abusing her power or anything but you did just get kidnapped so you'll need all the protection you can get"

She plastered a smile on her face "Thank you for your concern senpai" her hands gripped tightly unto the cereal bowl on her lap "I'll talk to her later"

" _NO WOHMAHN NOH CRYYYYYYY!_ " the sudden drunken singing of Junpei diverted Akihiko's attention.

The boxer put down his bag "That's it! He's getting out of the kitchen"

As soon as her senpai left for the kitchen Yukari's smile dropped into a frown and she looked at the bowl of cereal in her hands "Looks like I'm taking care of myself then"

* * *

"Now what do we have here?" Ryoji popped up behind Minato looking over at whatever the blue-haired lad was looking at his laptop "They gave you access to the archives?!" the scarfed man gasped in shock "Margaret keeps sending me those viruses that shut down your laptop whenever I try getting access to the archives!"

Minato looked at his co-worker "You should have asked Liz then"

Ryoji paused for a moment before he raised a finger "You have a point but . . ." his face zoomed over to Minato being mere inches away from it "Only Margaret has jurisdiction over the archives"

Keeping a blank expression he blinked "Oh"

"You're crossing dangerous waters Yuki-chan" Ryoji shook his head.

Turning back to his work "Its work related so I probably won't get flagged that much" Minato typed something "You just like to stalk whatever pretty client floats your fancy"

"Well I think I'm doing a very good business investment" Ryoji sat across Minato "If I marry a woman or male I'm open to that, who has a very stable financial standing and with enough influence to protect herself and myself who happens to be at least an eight in my ratings of attractiveness" he then made a dramatic pause "Then I can fulfil my fantasies of becoming a lovely house-husband and retire from this profession"

Minato paused in typing and raised a brow "You're barely out of your twenties and you're already thinking of retirement"

Ryoji pouted "I thought you'd be more surprised at the house-husband part"

"I actually half expected you to be a cast member of The Real Househusbands of Tokyo" Minato replied dryly.

"Now you're just pushing it" the raven head leaned back against his seat "Exactly what are you looking up in the archives?"

"I told you its work related"

"But I'm you're co-worker" Ryoji slammed his palm on the table "The basis of our relationship is gossiping about work!"

At that Minato closed his laptop "I think I'm done here"

This made Ryoji frown "Already we were just starting to get interesting" he groaned "Urgh, you're lucky you actually know you're a client" he then cocked his head "Hmm, she may be a bit too HBIC for me but I could totally see you getting tied up and whipped by her"

This comment almost made the blunet drop his laptop "What the actual . . ."

"Hey" Ryoji raised his palms "She looks like a dominatrix-like I tell you if she wears a black leather body-suit she will give Black Widow a run for her money"

Minato just gave his friend a look "You need to get laid"

"Wow you of all people saying that" Ryoji held unto his chest in fake pain "That must mean I really do have a problem"

Putting his laptop in a bag and swinging it over his shoulder "Indeed you do" he then left the lounge area going for the elevator (that actually works and isn't Igor's office). As soon as the doors opened he was greeted by the sight of an attendant.

"Well good day to you, Master Yuki" smiled Elizabeth's older sister and oldest attendant, Margaret.

Minato just nodded his head as he entered the elevator and pressed the button to one of the parking lot levels. "Nice to see you as well," he said trying to be polite.

Margaret gazed him over "How's your current job?"

The younger man shrugged "Not something I'm used to, but I'll adapt eventually"

"Now that's the spirit, though I understand that in such assignments you need to be well informed of your situation" the blonde pressed her palms together "That doesn't mean you have to go snooping around the archives behind my back"

He looked at her "Are you gonna send a virus to break my laptop as well?" he gave a weak smile.

She sighed "Nothing of that sort, and I only do that specifically to Master Pharos" her gaze went over to him "Though I must give my sister talking to"

His smile slipped "You don't have to do that, I coerced her into doing it"

"I see" she folded her palms in her lap "If you had just asked me I wouldn't have minded" her mouth twisted "It is, in fact, something work-related"

Tapping in fingers on his laptop bag "I wouldn't have looked over the archives if I had been informed prior to the engagement that the Velvet Room had been associated with the Kirijo's for years"

"I believe you were informed" she looked away from him and stared at her reflection on the elevator doors.

"I presumed only for three generations" he was looking down on the floor "I didn't think they were the first investors"

Keeping a passive face "The Kirijo family is more illustrious than they portray themselves to be"

"I just have one question" he adjusted his bag strap "Why did they skip a generation?"

At this Margaret raised a brow and turned to him "Pardon?"

"The Velvet Room has supplied a personal hitman for every head of Kirijo for as long as the organization existed" a corner of his mouth lifted "Yet for some reason, no one was supplied for Takeharu Kirijo, thus why he's the first one to be actually murdered"

Margaret's forehead furrowed "Are you certain that there was no one recorded?"

He shook his head.

"That's strange" she placed a finger under her chin "If I remember correctly there was someone . . . yet" her eyes sparkled with the realization "I remember now"

He lifted his chin "What happened?"

"The one assigned to him . . ." Margaret bit her lip "Malfunctioned"

He twitched "What?"

* * *

Naoto was looking over a few files that had been sent to her by her grandfather over the weekend. Her grandfather didn't ask her to solve them per se he just wanted to ask for an opinion. There had been an increase in the number of unsolved murder cases for the past few years with leads just getting nowhere until there was nothing at all.

Unsolved cases were not uncommon for the Shiroganes either. There were just some mysteries that were meant to never be uncovered. But it was cases like these that made Naoto want to solve them more, there was nothing like having the thrill and satisfaction of solving a cold case.

"Let's see what we have here today" Naoto was excited as a child on Christmas day opening her present wondering what's inside, it's probably an unhealthy feature of being a detective but she was alone in her hotel room right now.

She was about to open the file when she heard her cellphone ringing from her bedside table. The girl sighed then put down the case file for a moment and grabbed the phone. The moment she saw the caller id a jolt went through her spine and she got cautious when she answered the phone "Hello, Shirogane speaking"

"Well good afternoon Shirogane-san," said the ever-cheery Chairman Ikutsuki "Sorry to bother you on such short notice"

Crossing her legs with her toe-tapping the floor "No Mr Chairman you're not being a bother, please is there something you need?"

"Well you see, last week I had been informed that for some reason a breach happened in our system" Naoto could just see the man adjusting his glasses while having that condescending smile on his face "While I am not one to jump into conclusions, I'm from the year of the Ox after all"

The detective let out a sigh "Are you suspecting that I hacked into your system chairman"

"Oh heavens no" Ikutsuki let out a chuckle "It would be blasphemous to accuse the famous Detective Prince of hacking into our system with no proof. It's like turning water into gold or training pigs to jump"

Narrowing her eyes "Then what are you trying to tell me then, Mr Chairman"

"Well just because something seems difficult or ridiculous . . . doesn't mean it cannot be done" the chairman chuckled "A word of advice, don't get too cocky in the end"

Her eyes widened in shock, how was that possible? She had never been traced. No one has ever caught, if anything the only thing they could do was suspect. She knew she was nearing dangerous territory when she was up against a company like Kirijo but she's hacked bigger companies before that.

How the heck did they catch her?

Before she could think about that she heard knocking on the door.

* * *

The train ride back to Tatsumi Port was the most comfortable Mitsuru had felt throughout the entire trip. Despite the fact that she technically was on leave she felt as though she needed another vacation.

"The holidays are fast approaching" the heiress closed her eyes and sighed "That means preparations for year-end parties and year-end reports are on the way"

Kikuno was as always by her mistress' side "Well at least you managed to survive the year" she said trying to offer some sort of encouragement.

"I guess there's that" she opened her eyes and faced her friend "Kikuno . . ."

The maid went alert "Yes madam"

"In regards to what you told me the other day" Mitsuru did a frown "About what Shirogane-san told you, do you think it's true?"

The maid was taken aback for a moment "I . . ." she took a moment to think. She could remember that night when the detective came to the house and told her about her suspicions about the late Master Kirijo "It's . . . something that's . . . quite . . . fantastical in a sense" her brows drew together.

"You're right" a corner of the redhead's mouth lifted "It's a little silly of a story"

Kikuno felt a little unsure in her voice "But . . . there was this one time . . . if I remember correctly when we were still young" she looked away from her mistress "I could have been mistaken but I did overhear the Master talk to your father in regards to . . ."

Mitsuru squared her shoulders "In regards to what?"

The maid bit her lip "I was a bit far off from the conversation but I did hear . . . the word shadows and energy mentioned several times"

In here Mitsuru's pupils went wide "You heard my grandfather say that?"

"Madam I'm . . ." Kikuno started to stutter "I was not sure, they could be talking about something else for all I know" she held onto the tray in her palms "It was years ago Madam my memory might not be accurate"

Mitsuru leaned back against her seat the redhead did not know whether she should laugh about it or be angry about it, in fact, these past few months have been testing her on how she should properly react to situations "Harnessing energy . . . from shadows?"

* * *

As soon as he entered the apartment he knew something was off. As he took off his shoes he scanned the hallway looking for something or anything. "Hamuko!?" he called out to the apartment as he entered the kitchen "Hamuko, you back from your excursion?"

There was no reply. The only sounds that could be heard were his own steps and the weak buzz coming off from the refrigerator. For some reason, despite living in the apartment it was only now that he realized how off-putting the fully black kitchen was. It just looked like something a psychopath in some novel would have made it easier to hide blood stains or something.

Deciding that he was probably stressed from work and needed a vacation he opened the black LG Super-Capacity French Door refrigerator and took out a can of Carlsberg Export. He slammed the fridge door and exited the kitchen heading for the bright dining room that contrasted the kitchen with its light green painted walls and oak tables.

It was in here where he saw it.

Right in the middle of the round wooden oak table was a 17x10 inches photo of his sister. She was in front of the Ninna-ji Temple with her two friends Fuuka and Rio. The young redhead was in the centre with her arms holding onto her two friends and all three girls smiling brightly at the camera. It seems that the girls were having fun.

When he flipped the photo his face immediately went pale. Written in deep red was a note:

 _It is time. Show yourself._

* * *

 **Work kinda pushed me back for this one but at least I managed.**

 **Thanks to FanFicFreak6669, RedOmega, and fufulah for following and/or adding this story into your favorites.**

 **BossNoss: Thank you for that long review, it was kinda like some wake-up call for me in a sense. This story basically came up with the idea of what if Minato/Makoto was John Wick and the Velvet Room was the Continental. That was basically the main idea. I'll admit action isn't exactly my forte if anything I'm probably better utlized in 'slice-of-life', though I'm trying. I did tag this story as Mitsuru/Minato as I written them before and logically it would make sense for them to hook-up given the situation. That saying I didn't want to rush immediately towards their relationship, it would still happen just not that quickly. I'll admit I'd probably spent the last few chapter waffling a bit but I was trying to build up Fem!MC character, only to realize I probably did spend too much time with her. I'm not sure if this new chapter would address the issues you've had for better or for worst, but again thank you for the constructive criticism I really appreciate it.**


End file.
